Bitumen
by exclarrogatif
Summary: REWRITE! Harry comes across an ancient Dark artifact in 12 Grimmauld Place that slowly begins to change him, both physically and mentally. Dark, Bisexual, Godlike Harry.
1. Chapter 1- What Will Grow Crooked

A/N- Hey everybody. After reading a ton of really good Dark!Harry over the past few months I've decided to do a rewrite! Events will be moved around a bit and/or removed entirely, grammar will be cleaned up, chapters will be longer and everything will just be generally better. I hope. Even if you have read this before please re-read as the entire plot has changed. The original Bitumen story will be deleted shortly.

I apologize in advance for the first chapter. It's short and doesn't reflect the general atmosphere of the story at all, but a bit of time needs to pass and a couple of small things need to be established. I will be posting chapter 2 very soon.

Please don't let the slow start fool you- this is a very mature evil Harry story, I just have to build up to it first. If detailed descriptions of extreme violence, gore, and character promiscuity aren't your thing I'll save you some time- please don't read this. Harry will be bisexual with a preference for men and Harry/Voldemort will eventually be the main pairing, but not until he's older.

Summary: REWRITE! Harry comes across an ancient dark artifact in 12 Grimmauld Place that slowly begins to change him, both physically and mentally. Dark, Godlike Harry.

Bitumen

* * *

Chapter One- What Will Grow Crooked You Can't Make Straight

The house was full of secrets. Dark little things scattered like black pearls on a broken string, long since rolled into corners and covered in shadows. The magic was old and of the darkest kind, caked on like thick dust leaving a filmy substance over everything that could only be sensed by those aware of the ancient magic filling the house.

In the past, the inhabitants of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black respected this darkness and let it be, but there were new people now, people that didn't leave well enough alone. So for the first time in over a century something new was happening to 12 Grimmauld Place. It was being cleaned.

- – -

"You've got to be kidding me!" A voice cried from down the hall. Harry put down the old book he was idly thumbing through and looked out into the hallway.

"What is it Ron? You find another room to go through?" He asked.

"Yeah and this one is just... you have to see this, it's bloody horrible." Ron answered as he stuck his head out of a room just down the hall.

Harry sighed and made his way over to Ron. Passing through the heavy oak threshold, he looked around the room. The sheer amount of dusty clutter exhausted the tired eyes of the two teenagers. Bookshelves and tables covered with ancient picture frames and strange figurines filled the room, and a massive canopy bed dripped with cobwebs.

"Well we should probably get started on this now." Harry sighed and headed toward a glass vanity covered in various objects. Ron groaned in agreement and started to sort through the closet across the room.

This particular vanity was a truly magnificent piece of art covered with antique glass bottles and various feminine items. An ornate jewelry box was set in the middle of the table, its contents a kaleidoscope of colorful gems and jewelry. Harry sifted through the box, hoping to find anything nice to set aside before Fletcher got his hands on them. Almost everything was far too gaudy to appeal to the senses of any witch he associated with and he nearly moved on until his fingers brushed against the knob to a hidden compartment in the bottom. Emptying the box of its contents, Harry opened the door to reveal a small black velvet bag.

His curiosity piqued, he tugged the drawstring open and a strikingly handsome ring fell into his open palm. It was a small twist of bronze metal, designed to wrap around the finger in a spiral and topped with a red stone of some sort on each end.

"Seriously though, _why_ can't we use magic during the holidays? At least some cleaning charms!" Ron yelled from across the room.

Harry shrugged, "Your mom said she wanted us to keep busy. At least there's some cool stuff here. I think I'm gonna keep this ring I just found."

"A ring? Jewelry is for girls Harry! Let me know if you find something manly." Ron scoffed as he mockingly donned an enormous purple fur shawl that had fallen out of the closet.

Harry scowled in embarrassment and shoved the ring in his pocket. Closing the jewelry box, he crossed the room to help Ron sort through the closet.

- – -

"So we found another room filled with junk." Ron complained through a mouthful of sandwich. "It's huge and'll probably take a day to go through everything."

"If not longer." Added Harry. The boys had decided to take a quick lunch break and had found Hermione, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley in the dining room with the same idea. "There's a ton of old junk in there. Looks like it was some old lady's room."

"I'd assume it was Walburga's." Hermione surmised as she sipped a glass of water. "Just be glad there aren't any more portraits of her to scream at you in there."

"And do stop complaining, Ron. I only told you to go through the rooms to find anything useful because you said you had nothing to do." Mrs. Weasley added. "Have you two found anything interesting yet?"

Ron grinned and rolled his eyes. "Harry found some little sparkly bits."

"Ah shut it Ron!" Harry laughed. "There was a jewelry box full of junk and this one cool ring at the bottom."

Ginny cooed in appreciation as he set it on the table. "Good find Harry! It matches your coloring well."

Ron laughed derisively at her color theory as Mrs. Weasley reached across the table.

"I'll just check this for any Dark magic before you go curse yourself, alright dear?" She said, her voice full of motherly concern. Tapping it with her wand and muttering a basic magic detection spell didn't stir a reaction so she smiled it and handed it back to Harry. "Looks to me like it isn't up to any funny business."

Harry shrugged and slipped the ring on his left middle finger. It was a perfect fit.

- – -

Harry landed on his bed in exhausted relief. They were going to Diagon Alley in the morning and he was looking forward to a break from the monotonous cleaning.

The door opened and Ron shuffled in tiredly. "Sure am glad we're getting a day off tomorrow." He said with a yawn and fell onto his bed, passing out almost immediately. Harry figured he might as well get some sleep also, so he turned off the light and closed his eyes.

His dreams were a blurred vision of whispered voices and infinite darkness.

Harry felt like he had slept for a week. He sat up and stretched slowly before picking up the watch he left on his nightstand. To his surprise he still had quite a few hours until morning. Jumping to his feet restlessly he caught his reflection in a mirror illuminated by moonlight. Frowning, he combed through his messy hair with his fingers. He had recently experienced a growth spurt, both in height and facial hair. He now stood at 5'7 and the beginnings of a promising beard had begun, dusting his upper lip and chin with dark black. His only real complaint regarding his appearance now was that he still had to wear his glasses. He idly wondered if there was any way he could get his eyes magically repaired.

The moon was shining through a window in a way that caught the particles of dust hanging in the air and reflected on the walls. Enchanted by the beauty, Harry decided to go explore. He remembered Hermione telling him that she had found a library, so he headed upstairs to look for it.

It took some time, but Harry finally found the room Hermione was talking about. It was somewhat smaller than Walburga's room and every wall was covered with shelves of books. There were two sheet-covered armchairs and little else other than a large table. It still held the books Hermione must have been looking at earlier, along with a scroll of parchment and a bottle of dried up ink. Walking over to one of the shelves in a corner, Harry scanned the row of books and pulled one out at random. He flipped it open to the middle and the most amazing smell hit him. Checking the page, he saw a recipe for some sort of chicken.

"Well that's cool, the recipe smells like the food it makes..." Harry murmured and set it aside, it would probably be something Mrs. Weasley would be interested in.

Harry spent a little longer pulling out interesting books, then plopped down on one of the armchairs and started flipping through them. He read for a little while, and the next thing he knew he heard Hermione's voice.

"Harry, there you are! Wake up, we're leaving for Diagon Alley in a few minutes!" She said and shook his shoulder slightly.

Harry woke up to find himself lying across the armchair with his legs dangling over an armrest, the book he was reading lying on the floor. "Wow, I didn't realize I had fallen asleep. What time is it?" He asked while he straightened his glasses, thankful they didn't break while he was sleeping.

"It's just about eleven. Did you sleep here the entire night?" Hermione asked.

"No, I woke up in the room around five and decided to walk around the house. I probably fell asleep here around sunrise."

"Alright, well how about you go brush your teeth and then meet us in the kitchen? We're going to leave soon." Hermione said and headed into the hallway.

- – -

A few minutes later Harry walked into the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley hurriedly sat him down and passed him a plate of food.

"Be a dear and eat that up quickly, I want to beat the rest of the Hogwarts crowd." She said and made sure he finished every bite as everybody else waited around the fireplace. He quickly shoveled a pile of scrambled eggs and a sausage link into his mouth before standing up.

"As much as I know you don't like to floo, it is the fastest way." Mrs. Weasley said to Harry, who had really gotten over his dislike of it, she just liked to bring up the day he got separated from them in Knockturn Alley. "Everybody ready now? You go first Ron. Take a handful, make sure you have enough... alright. We're going to Diagon Alley, remember."

"Yes mum. I know, I know- Diagon Alley." Ron mumbled and disappeared in a flash of green light.

After Ron, Hermione and Ginny went through, Harry stepped forward to take some Floo Powder. Mrs. Weasley fretted over whether he was comfortable flooing or not, but he assured her that he would be alright. Throwing down his handful of the powder, he called "Diagon Alley!"

It looked as though Mrs. Weasley would be in for a disappointment, Diagon Alley was already filled with people. Brushing off his robes, he stood up and joined Ron and Hermione to wait for the others. Eventually everybody showed up and they split up into groups to take care of their shopping. After a trip to Gringotts, Mrs. Weasley and Ginny headed off to get Potions supplies while Ron, Hermione and Harry decided to head to Flourish and Blotts first.

Flourish and Blotts was nearly filled to the brim with Hogwarts students. Harry smiled in acknowledgment at a few Gryffindors, but didn't stop to talk to anybody. After grabbing the books he'd need for school, he found his way to the health and beauty section and tried to look for something targeted towards teenage boys.

"What are you doing over here Harry?" Hermione asked him, a very large stack of books in her arms piled up to her chin.

"Oh man Hermione, I hope those aren't all for classes. I think your brain just might melt." Harry teased and grabbed a book that looked somewhat promising, though designated for the opposing gender.

"Oh no, I learned that lesson third year. I'm just stocking up on extra reading. So why exactly are you looking at books for teenage girl fashion?"

"Oh... well... don't tell Ron, he'd just make fun of me. I'm thinking about putting a little more effort into my looks, so I figured this would be a good place to start." Harry shrugged and put the book back, apparently it was about charms for curly hair.

"I don't see why Ron would make fun of you for that, especially if you tell him it's in order to pull in girls or something like that. Not that there's much you could do for improvement, though." Hermione said, then stopped and blushed. Harry didn't seem to notice as he was trying to hide from a fast approaching redhead.

"Hey you guys, what are you doing? Talking about hair and makeup over here?" Ron asked.

Hermione rolled her eyes and said, "No, actually I was talking to Harry about changing his look a little."

"What, you mean like a makeover? First jewelry and now this? I didn't peg you as a pouf, Harry." Ron teased.

"Well actually, trying to not look like a total slob is appealing to most girls. We don't like being the only ones that bother to do something." Hermione said, and Ron laughed.

"What, you mean girls would rather have some fancy boy than a big hairy-chested ___man_?" He asked, preening a little.

"As if you actually have any hair on your chest, Ron!" Hermione laughed and grabbed Harry's arm. "Come on Harry, let's leave this manly man to go kill and animal and eat it raw, or whatever men like him are into."

"Um, alright." Harry mumbled, still quite embarrassed as Hermione dragged him over to the cash register so they could pay for their books.

"So, where do you want to go after this?" Hermione asked, eying the charmed bookmarks sparkling on a display.

"I'm not sure. I was thinking I should get some new robes?"

"Wow, you are taking this seriously!" She said eagerly. "There isn't much you can do for school robes though." Hermione reasoned, and handed her money to the man at the register.

"Oh... well I've been thinking about maybe getting my ear pierced. Do you think that would work?"

"Hmm, I could see that." Hermione agreed. "Do you want it in the lobe or somewhere else?"

"I don't really know. Let's find a place where they'll do that and we can ask them about it. Now where would a place like that be?" Harry wondered and turned to the cashier to pay him.

"You should go to my cousin's place down the road," said the cashier, "It's new but he's really good at all that. He did my tattoo." He lifted up his shirt to show them a massive tattoo of a gryphon on his chest. "Tell him Oliver sent you, that's me. He'll give you a good discount."

"Oh, alright. Thanks!" Hermione smiled and they left the shop.

"Hey Hermione, would you say that man was a manly man?" Harry asked.

"Not really... why?" Hermione asked with a puzzled look.

"Well, he didn't have any chest hair. So he must be some sort of wimp, right?" Harry laughed, and turned when he heard a cry of protest from Ron.

"You guys are serious jerks, leaving me in the shop and making fun of me when I'm not around!" Ron grinned and jogged to catch up to them. "So we going to the beauty parlor then?"

"No actually, Harry's going to get something pierced." Hermione said and Ron let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh alright, I guess that's not too girly." He said, and pointed at a sign hanging off of a building not too far away. "That looks like the place, probably. Funny name, The Smoking Rat Tattoo and Piercing Parlor..."

"Ew, sounds like a dump. Unless they're trying to be some ironic version of a muggle biker tattoo place." Hermione grimaced.

"Huh, weird... What's a biker?" Ron asked as they opened the door.

The shop was mostly empty, save for some employees and a young wizard combing through a magazine in the waiting area. He glanced up as the door jingled open, his caramel skin and dark hair strikingly offset by a pair of bright blue eyes. Harry vaguely recognized him as Blaise Zabini from Slytherin. The boy nodded to the group pleasantly and returned to his magazine.

A few minutes later Harry walked out of the shop with a conch piercing- a piercing positioned through the cartilage in the center of his ear. The man that worked there at first refused to serve a minor until he recognized him as Harry Potter. He ended up converting Harry's ring into the jewelry for the piercing.

After stopping at a few stores to get everything else on their lists, they headed back to the Leaky Cauldron to meet up with Mrs. Weasley, Ginny and the twins. Harry sat at the table twisting the spiral around in his ear while Ron and Hermione raced to see who could finish their Butterbeer first. Ron slammed his mug down victoriously and looked over to see Mrs. Weasley walking into the room.

"Get ready Harry, she's going to lose it when she sees your ear." He whispered as his mother approached the table.

"Hello, hello! Did you get all of your shopping done yet?" Mrs. Weasley asked cheerfully.

"Yeah, we're all set now." Ron said.

"That's good, we've finished all of our shopping too. So shall we head back?

"We might as well." Hermione said after finally draining the last of her Butterbeer.

Mrs. Weasley led everybody else to the fireplace in the back and they flooed to Grimmauld Place all in one piece. Harry arrived seconds after Ron and ended up falling back on the floor. Ginny took his hand to pull him up and noticed his ear.

"Ooooh Harry! Did you pierce your ear? It's so cool!" She said excitedly and showed it to her mom, who angrily demanded to know where he got it done.

"Don't freak out mum, it's not like he went to some parlor and the guy let him get it even though he's a minor. He lost a bet to me and I made him do it. Some bloke that left a while back cast a charm to do it." Ron said, coming to Harry and the man at the parlor's rescue, since it was very likely Mrs. Weasley would storm down to the business and start a problem. She seemed to believe it, and after yelling at them for doing something that stupid over a bet, let it drop.


	2. Chapter 2- Patience and the End of It

While this story starts out in Harry's 5th year, a lot of things that happened in book 5 aren't going to be included, specifically Umbridge's bullshit and DA. I have to admit that it's been a while since I've read the books, and I've read a LOT of other long fantasy series in the mean time...

This chapter isn't quite as uneventful as the first one, but chapter three is when the story really gets going. Shit will escalate soon.

/___Parseltongue/_

- – -

Bitumen

Chapter Two: Patience And The End Of It

- – -

A vast expanse of pinwheeling colors stretched before him. The endless span of burning lights and color spiraled through the blurred air, making his head spin. Cool dew covered grass brushed at his feet as he shook off the dizzying sense of vertigo and took off into a joyful run.

Suddenly everything slowed and pair of all-encompassing eyes filled the sky. Pale silver orbs flecked with countless colorful supernovas blinked at him as a breathy female voice echoed around him.

"...Hello?"

"Harry, wake up. We're almost there." Somebody shook his shoulder gently. Harry opened his eyes and rubbed his ear. The new piercing should have magically healed already, but it was suddenly somewhat sore. Glancing up, he saw a strange blonde girl with wide silver eyes.

"Um. Hello." Harry said, stretching his arms above his head.

"Something seems different about you." She said and leaned back in her seat, "You were drifting in the wind before, but now you're settling like dust." Her voice was little more than a singsong whisper.

Harry stared at her. "I'm sorry, but who are you?" He asked.

"I'm Luna Lovegood, Ravenclaw. This is the first time we've spoken." She stated simply, "I hope you don't mind that I joined you, but my housemates haven't been particularly kind lately."

"It's not a problem. My friends are both doing their rounds as prefects for the first time, so I figured I was going to be alone in here. What exactly did you mean by I'm settling like dust?"

"Hmmm? Oh, it's nothing really." She smiled softly and leaned back in her seat.

"Alright... so we're almost to Hogwarts? I should probably put on my school robes, then."

"Mhmm, yes. Probably." Luna said, staying in her seat.

"Erm... do you mind leaving for a minute so I can change my clothes?"

"Oh yes. Of course." Luna smiled and stepped out into the hall until Harry was done. After she came back in they talked for a while until Ron and Hermione found their compartment and joined them.

Hermione smiled and said, "Oh, there you are. We weren't sure what compartment you were in, so we've been checking all of them." She sat down and saw Luna, "Oh hello."

"This is Luna, she's in Ravenclaw." Harry said, and Ron and Hermione introduced themselves right when the train stopped.

The four rode the carriage to the castle, only Luna and Harry seeing the Thestrals pulling the carriage before them. Harry kept catching Luna gazing oddly at him, only to look down when she caught his eyes. Eventually the carriage made its way to Hogwart's massive front doors.

The group headed for the Great Hall and Luna said her goodbyes as she made her way to the Ravenclaw table. They sat through a particularly uneventful Sorting and made jokes about how unpleasant the new Defense teacher looked, then ate as much food as they possibly could.

- – -

Harry leaned back in his favorite Gryffindor Common Room armchair, closing his eyes comfortably as his housemates chattered amongst themselves. Hermione had run off with some of the other fifth year girls but Ron and some of the other boys had gathered around him. Ron was complaining to anybody that would listen about all the cleaning they had to do that summer. It was, in Harry's opinion, getting to be an annoyingly repetitive topic.

Seamus and Dean were busy comparing mental notes on which girls they thought they had a chance with. Collin Creevy and some of the other younger boys were gathered around with enchanted expressions, earnestly looking around the room to spot each girl they listed.

"What about you, Harry? You still into Cho?" Dean asked.

Harry opened his eyes slowly and shrugged. "I don't know... after what happened with Cedric last year it doesn't really feel right going after her."

"Aw yeah right mate, if anything now is the perfect chance to swoop in!" Seamus chimed in. "Her needing a shoulder to cry on and all."

Harry just shrugged again and settled back in the chair, his mind darkly returning to that night at the end of the year. Watching Cedric's lifeless form fall to the ground as Harry laughed triumphantly, a cloud of shadows embracing him-

'Wait, what?' He sat straight up, his horrified expression clear to the group sitting near him.

"Err, everything alright mate?" Ron asked worriedly.

Harry paused a moment, shaking his head softly. "Yeah, I'm fine... Think I'm gonna turn in for the night."

"Good call. I should head upstairs soon too." Ron said as most of the others nodded.

Harry tried to fall asleep, but gave up after an hour. Rolling out of bed, he grabbed his robe off the top of his chest and pulled it on. He made his way down to the common room and looked around for something to do. The fireplace had mostly died down, barely illuminating the full extent of the large room. Harry spotted a table situated against the far back wall holding a small stack of thick pamphlets and some quills. They were all copies of a list of elective classes available to fourth years on up. Harry grabbed one and a quill and went to a sofa near the fireplace.

"Well that looks interesting." He murmured and circled a class he had never heard of- Offensive Magic. Reading through it, he learned that it was an addition to Defense Against the Dark Arts that taught the basic offensive magic spells and techniques for using them. Harry excitedly wondered why nobody was talking about such a great class until he saw who the teacher was.

"Snape... Of course." He groaned, but after a short debate with himself decided it was worth it. He continued reading and saw that he would have to talk to the head of his house to switch into it, so he planned on tracking down Professor McGonagall in the morning.

- – -

The Great Hall was awash with excited conversations discussing the first day of the school year. It was a truly beautiful morning, at least according to the enchanted ceiling beaming bright sunshine through a blue sky. Magical cumulus clouds hovered lazily above their heads as Harry, Ron and Hermione chatted over breakfast.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Hermione asked and sipped her apple juice, noting the dark circles on the face across from her.

"No, not really. I wasn't really that tired until around seven, and then everybody was waking up. But I did find a new class I want to switch into, Offensive Magic. I figure I can drop Divination for it. The only bad thing about it is that Snape teaches it." Harry said, stabbing a fork through his scrambled eggs. He was really not looking forward to his upcoming conversation with the dreaded Potions teacher.

"Snape? Why would you want to take that?" Ron asked indignantly through a mouthful of bacon, dripping maple syrup on the table.

"The class looks too interesting to pass up. I had no idea there were other classes besides the ones we picked for third year." Harry said with a shrug.

"Well of course there are. We were just told about the ones third years can take when we picked those. They have a little book that lists them." Hermione said.

"Oh, well I didn't know that until last night. But I'm actually excited about the class."

"You know Snape is going to make it a living hell for you, right?" Ron asked.

Harry shrugged again, "Oh well, I'll just do really good at it and maybe he'll leave me alone. It'll be worth it if I can learn how to fight."

"Don't count on it..." Ron said and shoved an entire roll in his mouth.

Hermione wrinkled her nose, "That's disgusting, Ron."

Harry rolled his eyes as they started to argue. The two were constantly bickering and it was starting to get old. He wished they would just hurry up and realize their attraction to one another. Spotting Professor McGonagall at the Head Table, he stood and approached the row of professors. Snape was unfortunately right next to her, eying him over The Daily Prophet.

"Excuse me, Professor McGonagall. I was interested in switching around some classes."

Snape interrupted with a glare. "And exactly what class is it you want to join?"

"One of yours, actually. Offensive Magic." Harry said, trying to not glare back. Snape sighed heavily.

"People like you are the reason I don't publicize that class. I don't want just anybody joining, there are certain prerequisites. You need to be excelling in Defense Against the Dark Arts and have a recommendation from a teacher." He sneered, and returned to eating his breakfast.

'Well I give Harry my recommendation, and he had a nearly perfect grade in Defense." Professor McGonagall said with a smile. It almost seemed as if she delighted in upsetting her colleague.

"Then I suppose I have no choice in the matter. The class is in the Potions dungeon Mondays and Thursdays from two o'clock to four o'clock. I do hope that doesn't conflict with your schedule." He said nastily, and turned to talk to Professor Vector, ending the conversation.

- – -

Luckily for Harry the class didn't conflict with his schedule, so a little before two he headed for the dungeons. Reaching the dimly lit chamber, he put down his bag on a table near the front and saw he was the first one there. Sitting down, he hoped he wasn't the only one that happened to find out about the class. A few minutes later a few Hufflepuffs and a larger group of Slytherins walked in chatting amongst themselves. Spotting Harry, they sat down a few rows away, whispering and laughing. Draco Malfoy, of course, was among the group. Blaise Zabini sat next to the blond, and surprisingly enough offered Harry a small smile. Harry was somewhat surprised to note that there wasn't a single Gryffindor among them, presumably kept away by the thought of having another class with Snape.

The doors flung open and Snape swept in dramatically. "So I see you've met the newest member of the class. Unfortunately for him, we will not waste any time going over what we learned last year. Now team up, we're going to run some practice duels."

The group of Slytherins quickly grouped up until only one was left, who sauntered over towards Harry.

"Ready to be humiliated, Potter?" Malfoy asked with a smirk as he drew his wand and turned towards Professor Snape. "If it is alright sir, we would like to start first."

"Alright, you may begin." Snape nodded.

"Wait, are we doing this in here? It's a little crowded-" Harry got cut off when Draco fired a curse that narrowly missed. Harry jumped from his seat and aimed an ___Expelliarmus_ at him, also missing.

"The point of fighting in this room, Mr Potter, is to teach you how to fight and use your surroundings. Only an idiot would exclusively prepare for fights in an open area." Professor Snape sneered and stepped out of Draco's way when he shot a Severing charm at Harry's arm.

The ___Diffindo_ barely caught Harry's arm and cut it slightly. Angrily, he shouted "___Reducto!"_, aiming at the small chandelier over Draco's head. The thing came crashing down, knocking Draco over. Struggling to stand back up, Draco shot a blasting curse at Harry, but it missed and threw a table violently against the wall, setting it ablaze.

"Enough, enough!" Snape shouted and put out the fire. "Both of you, sit down. The point is to knock the other person out, not to destroy my room and each other. Remember Mr Malfoy, you can't cause too much harm to your opponent."

"Me? What about him, he's ripping shit off of your ceiling and throwing it at me!" Draco shouted angrily.

"Language, Mr Malfoy. Ten points from Gryffindor for ruining school property."

Harry fought the urge to argue that Draco destroyed a table just as badly and sat back down.

Snape walked to the front of the room and addressed the class, "Going by the way that duel was going, it is obvious that Mr Malfoy was going to be the winner. Who can tell me what Mr Potter did wrong?"

Seething in anger, Harry managed to sit through a half hour of people dissecting their five minute fight, insulting his abilities the whole time. He knew Snape was doing this in order to force Harry to drop the class, but he refused to give in. He was more determined than ever to excel. Not only would it be very helpful in the upcoming war, he wanted to be able to kick the ass of everybody in the class.

After being assigned an essay on the history of the Reducto curse since apparently he used it wrong in the duel, Harry was finally free to go. He made his way back to the mostly empty Gryffindor common room and wrote his essay as fast as he could. When he was about halfway through, Hermione and Ron joined him and he told them all about how terrible it went.

"Well why don't you drop the class, then?" Ron asked as he sprawled across a sofa, all schoolwork temporarily disregarded.

"You realize it's going to be you versus all of them for the rest of the year, right?" Hermione added, pulling out her Ancient Runes books and dropping them on a desk with a heavy thud.

"Yeah, I know. But I'd rather get really good and beat all of them. Really rub it in their faces that I'm better than them." Harry said, glaring at his essay.

"Harry, that doesn't sound like you. I don't think sitting through that class is healthy." Hermione said worriedly, lining her books up evenly and arranging her assortment of quills and ink in a tidy row.

"No, I'm fine. Really, I'm going to end up getting a lot out of this class as long as I don't lose it." Harry assured her.

"Alright, just don't get too worked up about it."

"Don't worry about it Hermione. I'll be fine. I promise." Harry said and with a flourish wrote the last word of his essay.

- – -

The next few weeks were some of the worst Harry ever had at Hogwarts. Not only was Offensive Magic a constant test of his temper, the new Defense teacher was nothing but a joke. They did nothing but bookwork, but what he didn't learn in that class he made up for in Offensive Magic. The one benefit of the class was that regardless of Snape's terrible attitude towards him, he did learn a great deal. By the second week of school he had learned quite a few useful new spells, and was already becoming very skilled at aiming while moving. He dueled Draco nearly every day, but the class wasn't entirely spent insulting his skill anymore.

His determination to improve his offensive spells had lead to him spending a lot of his time alone in empty classrooms so he could practice. He offered to show his friends a couple of spells, but both Hermione and Ron claimed to be too busy with their own classwork. All of his time spent apart from the two gave them an opportunity to finally figure out what everybody else had known for at least a year. They now seemed to be perpetually attached by the face and struggled with carrying a conversation with anybody while in each others presence. This didn't bother him as much as it might have because he had started constantly studying in the library or practicing his spells.

One day in late October Harry sat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall with a large stack of homework. He was reading a surprisingly interesting book _for History Of Magic regarding ancient magical religion, a topic that had never really occurred to him before. The theory of Planars was especially intriguing- apparently ancient wizards believed in three godlike creatures that represented Light, Neutral and Dark Magics. They used to be worshiped as gods, but for quite some time were regarded as little more than parables for children._

_The main thing that caught Harry's eye was a particular legend referencing these gods occasionally growing bored and visiting the Human Realm. In order to stay for an extended amount of time they had to merge with the soul of a witch or wizard, granting that person their powers and infinite life. This mention of immortality made Harry briefly think about Voldemort, if he had ever tried to attract the attention of one of these legendary gods. Harry wondered what it would take to draw their notice._

"Hey Harry!" Ron shouted and leaned across the table, sticking his face in Harry's as Hermione ran off to her class.

"Hold on a moment Ron, I'm reading something for class."

"Nope! Whatever it is you're doing couldn't possibly matter as much as this!" Ron exclaimed and grabbed Harry's book, slamming it closed. "Now listen to me! This is great news!"

"Alright! What is it?" Harry snapped and reached for his book, but Ron slid it far down the table, knocking over Fred Weasley's drink.

"Hermione said she'd be my girlfriend!" Ron said enthusiastically.

"Yes, like a month ago. I know this already." Harry said and leaned over to try to catch Fred's attention to get him to slide his book back.

"No, no, you don't understand!" Ron stopped him, "Before we were just... you know. But it's official now! We're dating!"

"Alright, that's cool. Now I need to get my book back." Harry said irritably. Ron had been getting on his nerves more and more lately.

"Are you jealous of me and Hermione or something?" Ron asked, scowling.

"What? No... why would I care?"

"Um, because you're my friend maybe?" Ron said angrily.

"I don't even know why half the time." Harry muttered.

Ron stood up and sputtered indignantly, "Pardon?"

Harry sighed, "Ron, you're a selfish, jealous and immature child. You're constantly competing with me and you'll start fights over the slightest mistreatment. You need to get over yourself, we're at school to learn and prepare for the upcoming _war_, not compete to see who can be the most well-known or get laid first."

Ron laughed triumphantly, "I knew it! You ___are_ jealous of me getting Hermione! Well you can't always win at everything, Harry!"

"Did you even hear what I just said?"

"I hardly needed to." Ron snarled, "Here's your precious book, Potter."

Ron tossed the book in the air and with a surprising display of accuracy, hit it with a fire charm. It disintegrated into a pile of smoldering ash in Harry's lap. Ron then picked up his bag and stomped off.

"Harry, I think maybe you should go talk to him and calm him down. He's not gonna talk to you for weeks if he stays mad, knowing him." Fred said worriedly.

"At this point, I hardly think it's worth it." Harry said, seething with anger as he put out the burning remains of his book.

"You don't really mean that. Ron can be a right prat at times, but he's still your friend." George added.

"Whatever, it's not a big deal. I have to go to class." Harry snapped and headed towards the dungeons for Offensive Magic.

- – -

"So I heard about your little lovers spat with the Weasel, what's wrong, did you tell him his dress made him look fat?" Draco asked with a smug grin on his face.

"Not now, Malfoy. I'm really not in the mood." Harry growled.

He had showed up later than usual to the class and everybody else was there, somehow all knowing what had happened in the Great Hall already.

Professor Snape swept into the room and Harry moved to pull out the essay he was assigned the previous session, but Snape stopped him.

"I have little interest in struggling through another terribly written essay, Potter. Instead would you mind demonstrating what you may have possibly learned yesterday in a duel with Mr. Malfoy?" Snape drawled as if the thought of Harry learning anything was nearly laughable.

Harry nodded and stood up. They had recently learned about using conjuring spells in fights and he had found that he was particularly good at it. He had come up with a decent plan for fighting with a particular spell and was looking forward to fully embarrassing Malfoy in a duel.

The two faced each other and waited until Snape instructed them to begin. Snape told them to conjure their items, then stepped out of the way.

Draco beat Harry to casting first. Swiping his wand through the air, he yelled, "___Avis!_". A flock of birds burst from his wand and fluttered around Harry's head in a circle.

Before Malfoy could command the birds to attack, Harry yelled, "___Serpensortia_!"

A very large snake landed on the ground in front of Harry. "___/Hold him down, don't let him get up./_" Harry hissed, and summoned four more snakes.

The snakes lunged forward and hit Malfoy with such force that he flipped over his chair and cracked his head on the floor with a sickening crunch. Harry smirked at the boy bleeding on the ground and turned to Snape.

"Is this considered winning or should I ___Stupefy _him as well?" He asked as he fought back a grin and banished Malfoy's birds.

Snape frowned and banished the snakes holding Malfoy down. "No Mr Potter, that will do. Take your seat." He said as he helped Malfoy stand.

Harry sat back down at his seat while Snape performed a basic healing spell on one of Malfoy's legs. Apparently a snake had broken it when it hit him, along with the fall possibly giving him a concussion. Harry held in a laugh as Malfoy quietly whimpered and limped over to his table.

The next duel was between Zabini and some other Slytherin Harry didn't know. Zabini was impressively resourceful, conjuring a mirror to deflect most of his opponent's spells. Their fight was over nearly as quickly as Harry's, ending when Zabini summoned a second mirror behind the other Slytherin, bouncing a _Stupefy_ off of the first and reflecting it into his combatant's back.

Harry quickly gathered his things as the class ended and headed out into the hallway, still musing angrily over his argument with Ron.

"Hey, Harry. Wait up." A voice called out behind him.

Harry turned, curious who in Offensive Magic would address him in such a friendly manner. Blaise Zabini jogged to catch up, maintaining his usual grace even as he slung his book bag over his shoulder.

"That was really impressive back there, the way you handled that snake. I've always heard you were a Parseltongue, but I'd never seen it for myself."

Harry blinked, caught off guard by the boy's friendliness. It was true that Zabini had never been downright rude to him, but the thought of a Slytherin having a cheerful conversation with a Gryffindor was just strange.

"Thanks... it's really nothing though, it just comes naturally to me." Harry said and continued walking down the hall.

Zabini kept pace with him, his bright blue eyes flashing with curiosity. "Fascinating. Listen, I understand if you aren't interested, but if you ever need a dueling partner I would love to practice with you."

Harry was about to decline before he stopped and considered the offer. Ron and Hermione's lack of interest in practicing with him had been a constant frustration for the past few weeks as his dodging abilities were sorely lacking. A dueling partner would actually be very helpful.

Returning the Slytherin boy's smile for the first time, Harry nodded. "I was actually going to head to the empty room down the hall from the Offensive Magic classroom after dinner tonight. You can join me if you'd like."

Blaise Zabini nodded in delight and grinned. "I'd love to."

Harry's hand rested on the doorknob to the practice room, sighing in apprehension. Willingly spending time with a Slytherin seemed so wrong to him, even a particularly friendly one. He didn't know a single thing about Zabini but the boy was friends with Draco and that was enough for Harry to assume the worst. Bracing himself for awkwardness, he opened the door and stepped inside.

Zabini was already in the room, a large book in hand as he sat on one of the tables pushed against the far back wall. Noting Harry's entrance, he set the book down and gracefully jumped off the table.

"Hey there," He purred, "How was dinner?"

The Slytherin had changed clothes since class, switching his school robes for a tanktop and tight black pants. His bare arms were surprisingly muscular and covered in black tattoos that were somehow shifting on his caramel skin. Oddly enough, he was also barefoot.

Harry flushed slightly, caught off guard by a sudden extreme attraction to the teen. Other than a brief crush on Cho Chang he had been generally unconcerned with sex. The thought of being attracted to another man had never occurred to him, though the concept certainly didn't bother him.

Realizing he was probably staring, Harry rushed out a response. "Oh dinner was fine, I suppose... Err, did you forget your shoes?"

Blaise laughed and shook his head. "No, they're by the door with my robe. I prefer fighting barefoot, for enhanced mobility."

"Oh, well that makes sense. But what if you're caught off guard with your shoes on?"

"Ah, good point. I don't always practice without shoes for that reason, but I do try to avoid getting caught off guard." Blaise said with a wry smile. "Anyway, did you already have anything planned for tonight?"

"Nothing too specific. I haven't really had the chance to practice with another person yet, so maybe some defensive fighting?" Harry shrugged.

"Good idea. I have to admit I've been watching you a bit and have noticed that you're usually quite stiff during duels. It may work to your advantage to focus on moving more." Blaise said with a nod and drew his wand. "Are you ready? I'll cast a few minor spells. Don't worry about casting anything back, just focus on dodging for now."

Harry nodded determinedly and stepped back a few feet. A moment later Blaise shot a blue bolt at him. Harry sidestepped and avoided it with ease.

"What are you casting anyway?" He asked.

Blaise responded by firing another three in quick succession. The first two were easily avoided but the third one caught him in the leg, which immediately was filled with a slight tingling.

"This is the same spell I use for practice with my dueling instructor. It's just a mild numbing charm, each subsequent one that hits you will be slightly stronger until you lose feeling in the area."

Harry avoided a series of the blue bolts until Blaise picked up the pace and nailed him multiple times in the chest.

"Alright!" Blaise called, "Let's switch for a minute until the numbness wears off. I'll show you how to cast it."

Harry nodded and grabbed his wand as Blaise approached. His breath caught slightly as the Slytherin stepped closely behind him and placed his left hand on Harry's side. His right hand guided Harry's as he demonstrated the wand motion and murmured the incantation in his ear.

After showing Harry the charm, Blaise walked to the center of the room and grinned. "Ready when you are. Give me your worst."

Harry immediately attacked, pleased to successfully cast the charm on his first try. Blaise avoided the blue bolt with ease, merely shifting his weight to the side. Frowning, he cast two more in quick succession. Blaise turned to his left to avoid the first and took a wide step forward to avoid the second. Determined to catch him, Harry launched into a barrage. Firing the spell in a variety of directions and heights, he watched in amazement as Blaise artfully danced around the blue bolts.

"Ok Harry." He said after a minute, "Are you ready to go again?"

The tingling had subsided in Harry's chest and he nodded. "Yeah, ready when yo-"

Blaise cut him off by firing a blue bolt directly at Harry's face, and Harry managed to duck his head right in time. Feeling somewhat inspired after watching Blaise, Harry avoided the majority of the blue bolts. The two continued for quite a while until they were both too out of breath to carry on.

"We're probably really close to curfew. I should probably head back." Blaise said with a smile. "I had a lot of fun though. We should do this again if you'd like."

Harry nodded. "Definitely. This is a lot more useful than just firing spells at inanimate objects."

"Good. I hope I'm not discouraging you with my experience. I've been receiving dueling lessons since I was young." Blaise said, black wavy hair covering his face momentarily as he bent over to fasten his shoes.

"No, not at all. I appreciate learning from somebody that knows what they're doing... Oh, but should I dress any differently next time? I might move better without these robes weighing me down." Harry asked as he appreciatively watched Blaise's lithe frame gather his robe and book.

Blaise shot him a wicked grin and replied, "If you'd like, I wouldn't be at all opposed to you wearing something more form-fitting. See you tomorrow Harry."

And with that the Slytherin sauntered out into the hall.

- – -

Harry was lying on a couch in the Gryffindor Common Room, enjoying the warmth of the fireplace and reading a book. It had been a little over a month since his first practice session with Blaise. The two met a few times every week and Harry could tell he was starting to improve. They were still mostly focusing on dodging, thought every now and then they would practice different spells they had learned in class. Just as he was about to turn a page in his book, a bushy haired silhouette blocked his light.

"Harry, I really think you should talk to Ron." Hermione said, hands on her hips as she stood over him.

Harry sighed and set his book down. "And why exactly would I want to do that?"

"Because I hate having this silence between the two of you! It's been ages! He's tried to talk to you Harry, he wants to try to fix this. For once it's you that's being the stubborn one and he's the one trying to make things better. I'm tired of being stuck between the two of you!" Hermione yelled, startling all of the people lounging in the Common Room.

Leveling his gaze at Hermione, he smiled sweetly and said, "Hermione, would you tell Ron that sending his girlfriend to talk to me isn't going to make any difference? In fact, it's quite pathetic that he's unable to sit down and talk to me himself."

Hermione opened her mouth to say something angrily, then stopped herself and said, "He has tried to talk to you. He's been trying for days!"

"Hermione, we're talking about two different things. I would appreciate it if he sat down and offered the chance to talk things out. Instead he went from totally ignoring me and talking about me when I'm not around to suddenly realizing that he liked the perks of being The-Boy-Who-Lived's best friend. Then he started talking to me like nothing ever happened." Harry explained.

"You know that's not true. I think you're being unfair."

"Believe what you want, I'm tired of Ron's childish behavior. You're a smart girl, Hermione. I can't imagine what you could possibly see in him. Though I suppose book smarts and common sense are two completely different things." Harry said with a smirk.

"What exactly is your problem?" Hermione snapped, "You've totally changed since the beginning of the year."

"My problem?" Harry laughed, "I grew up, Hermione. I'm not concerned about all of the stupid little things going on in this school, I'm preparing for the real world. Need I remind you that Voldemort is back? Not only is he back, he's out to kill me, and I'm not going to go down without a fight."

"That doesn't explain why you've become such an asshole."

Harry frowned. "You think I'm an asshole?"

Hermione nodded, biting her lip. "Well... yes. Not all the time, but you've been making everybody feel like an interruption. When you're not sleeping you're either in class or reading. You won't make any time for your friends! It seems like you're avoiding Ron just because he's an inconvenience."

Harry shrugged, "Like I said, I'm more concerned about beating Voldemort than these petty teenage problems. You and Ron have made it quite clear that you're not interested in preparing for the war so I need to move on without you."

Hermione huffed angrily. "You know I focus just as much on school as you do! You know what I think? All of the competitive nonsense you have going on in that Offensive Magic class has changed you. You've been so busy studying and practicing that you haven't given yourself a break at all. That can't be good for you, you should at least take the weekend off."

Harry sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Hermione, you're not listening to me. I have to prepare for the next time I have to face Voldemort, and I have no idea when that may be. And besides, I'm enjoying Offensive Magic. I may not get along with all the Slytherins or Snape, but at least I'm being challenged by them."

Ron suddenly approached the two, glaring daggers at Harry. "Maybe you should just go be friends with those Slytherin Death Eaters-in-training instead of putting up with us all the time, or whatever your deal is."

"Oh hello Ron, so nice of you to just jump into our conversation." Harry said pleasantly.

"Cut out the bullshit, Harry. You've been acting like you're so much fucking better than everybody else, if those Slytherins are so much more interesting to you than maybe you should just go hang out with them!" Ron yelled.

Harry laughed, "Oh yes, I'm sure I would get along so much better with them, seeing as how they want me to die." The sarcasm dripped from his voice as he stood and grabbed his book, heading towards the portrait hole.

"Where do you think you're going? We're not done here!" Ron yelled, grabbing Harry's arm. Harry quickly spun around, pulled out his wand and pointed it between Ron's eyes.

"Actually Ron, I do believe we are through here." Harry said quietly with narrowed eyes, "And didn't your mother ever teach you that it's rude to grab people?"

"Don't you dare get my mother involved in this!" Ron said angrily as he fumbled to pull his wand out of his back pocket.

"Well, I meant it as more of an expression than anything." Harry said with a shrug, and seeing the fuming redhead going for his wand he cast a ___Conjunctivitus _curse directly at Ron's face.

Screaming in pain, Ron clutched his eyes and fell onto the couch Harry had just been sitting on. The otherwise mostly silent Common Room suddenly erupted as everybody ran to Ron's side to figure out the counter-curse. During the panic, Harry slipped out of Gryffindor Tower and went down to the library for the rest of the night.

- – -


	3. Chapter 3- Waste Away These Wasted Games

Alright so there seems to be a random section in chapter two that is in italics when it definitely isn't supposed to be. It's not showing up like that in OpenOffice so... I guess pretend that didn't happen?

Happy birthday GinHanelle! Thanks for being my first reviewer, and so soon after I posted the chapters too! :D

Also, regarding sex scenes... I'm aware that doesn't allow explicit sex scenes, but I'm not 100% on where the line is drawn on allowed and not allowed- especially considering this story is rated M. I have a few upcoming scenes in the chapters I've written so far and I'm not really sure what to do with them. I guess cut them out or make a blog and link to them in my profile? I'd appreciate any input on this.

Bitumen

Chapter Three- Waste Away All These Wasted Games

- – -

The air was thick with tiny blue petals hovering in the nonexistent breeze. Harry sprawled out on the soft purple grass, the faint smell of jasmine and honeysuckle drifting around him as he gazed at the dreamscape horizon. The silhouette of a female body formed in a gap of petals, the light pink sky shining through the opening. The form glided elegantly towards him as a soft, feminine voice echoed through the perfumed haze.

"I see you..."

Harry dropped to the ground, his nearly numb left leg throwing him off balance.

"Hey, are you alright? You seem a little off today." Blaise lowered his wand and crossed the room to sit down next to Harry.

"Yeah, just a little tired is all. I'll be fine, I just need to catch my breath." Harry said stubbornly. Ever since his outburst in Gryffindor tower a few days ago he had been avoiding the bedroom he shared with Ron and the other fifth year boys. Because of this he had taken to sleeping in the library between classes. It was really starting to wear on him.

Blaise smiled apologetically. "If I've been working you too hard just let me know. I don't want to scare you away."

"Oh, no. It's not you at all. I'm just..." Harry paused, not sure how much Blaise wanted to know about his personal life, but he felt the need to talk to somebody about it. "I haven't been getting along well with the other Gryffindors lately."

"Ah. You know, I noticed you hadn't been sitting with them in the Great Hall lately. I was kind of wondering what was going on. Mind if I ask what happened?"

Harry sighed. "It's dumb. I've been friends with Ron and Hermione since first year... I just got sick of how caught up in their little lives they are. Ever since the end of last year when I saw... well, when Cedric..." Harry paused and glanced at Blaise. He honestly had no idea where the Zabinis stood when it came to Voldemort and the Dark side, but Blaise just nodded encouragingly so Harry continued.

"Ever since Voldemort came back, all I can really focus on is preparing to face him. It's just a matter of time. And they just don't care! They didn't want the extra coursework from Offensive Magic and were 'too busy' for me to even show them anything that might keep them alive. So I've been working without them, and they get offended because I don't have any extra time for them. Ron and I ended up getting in a big argument and everybody sided with him, including Hermione. A few nights ago he confronted me and I got carried away, ended up hitting him with a _Conjunctivitis _curse."

Blaise winced. "Ouch. I bet that pissed everybody off even more."

"Exactly. So now I guess I don't really have a house." Harry shrugged.

"Well..." Blaise frowned "I'd offer to ask if you could stay in the Slytherin House, but I doubt you'd feel very comfortable there."

Harry laughed. "No, not really. Though they're probably right on par with the Gryffindors now. At least _you _can stand me, that's more than I could say for anybody in my house."

"You know, a lot of the Slytherins have quite a bit of respect for you. I mean, you're a Parseltongue like Salazar Slytherin himself! Regardless of wars and sides, I'd say that automatically qualifies you for my house. And you'd be surprised how many of the Slytherins would agree." Blaise said.

"Yeah but Draco-"

"Draco Malfoy is a right prick and everybody knows it, even his lackeys. All he has going for him is his name and the fact that Snape is his godfather. I could easily see you taking over and putting him in his place." Blaise said, his bright blue eyes alight with mischief.

Harry grinned wryly. "And here I thought you were friends with him."

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Life is all about networking and survival. Not only in Slytherin, we're just known for it. I'm sure you understand that just as well as anybody in my house."

"Yeah... I suppose so." Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I've never actually told anybody this before... the Sorting Hat originally wanted me in Slytherin, but I begged it to put me anywhere else."

"Should I be offended by that?" Blaise laughed. "I'd say that settles it. Tomorrow I'm taking you to Dumbledore to see to a re-Sorting."

"You can do that?"

"I know for a fact it has happened. It's mentioned a few times in 'Hogwarts, A History'." Blaise nodded confidently.

Harry laughed. "Oh no, don't tell me you've memorized that huge tome too..."

Blaise grinned but looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Oh nothing, nothing. You just continue to surprise me is all." Harry smiled, nudging the boy with his shoulder playfully.

"Oh Harry, I'll have you know that I am positively _full_ of surprises."

Harry paced nervously in front of the gargoyle concealing the entrance to Dumbledore's office, Blaise leaning confidently against a wall with his arms crossed. It had to occurred to them on the way there that they had no idea what the password was. Hopefully a professor, or even the Headmaster himself would show up eventually to help them out.

"Do you think we should have talked to Snape or McGonagall first?" Harry asked.

Blaise shrugged. "I figure he can fetch them much easier than we could."

The boy had a point, and shortly after the gargoyle shifted and Dumbledore peered out into the hallway. Harry was filled with a startlingly sudden urge to attack the man, but the feeling quickly subsided. His piercing felt slightly hot and painful again.

Spotting Harry, Dumbledore smiled warmly. "Ah, Harry! And is that... Blaise Zabini? Well come in, come in."

The Headmaster's office was entirely unchanged. Fawkes sat upon her perch, cooing cheerfully as the three entered. An enormous fire roared in it's hearth, illuminating the many portraits hanging above the grandiose desk that was covered with stacks of papers and books. Glancing around, Harry spotted the Sorting Hat on top of a large bookshelf.

Dumbledore summoned three plush armchairs- one red and gold, one green and black, and one periwinkle and dotted with silver stars. Seating himself in the ridiculous one, he gestured for the two to sit. After they were all comfortable, he leaned forward and smiled pleasantly.

"Alright, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" He asked, eyes twinkling. Harry couldn't shake a strange sense of danger- the need to fight his way out of this office and escape.

"Well, you see sir... this is a somewhat unusual request. I'm not sure if you are aware, but I haven't been getting along very well with the other Gryffindors lately. In fact, I'm not really entirely welcome in Gryffindor Tower anymore." Harry began cautiously.

"Is that so? Is the Fat Lady herself denying your entrance?" Dumbledore asked, frowning slightly.

"Ah... no. Not exactly." Harry mumbled, suddenly feeling somewhat foolish.

"Then I suppose I fail to see what the problem is." Dumbledore said, the sparkle from his eyes gone.

"The problem, Professor," Blaise cut in "Is that Harry is unable to get the sleep necessary to focus on his schoolwork. I'm sure you would agree that while any inner-House drama may not be entirely important, the ability to succeed in school most certainly is."

"Yes, I must agree with you there, Mr Zabini. I am most curious as to what solution you offer for Mr Potter's situation." Dumbledore replied, his voice straining slightly.

"Why, a re-Sorting, of course." Blaise answered.

Dumbledore frowned. "I'm afraid that is out of the question. Perhaps at the beginning of the new year, but we can't move around students in the middle of the term-"

"If I may interject?" A hoarse voice called out from behind the group. "These situations have come up in the past, and there was never a problem with moving the student to a House they would fare better in. You humans do tend to change dispositions at times, after all."

An unpleasant look crossed Dumbledore's face as he turned to eye the Sorting Hat. "And I suppose you are right, of course."

With a wave of his hand, the Sorting Hat floated down and hovered over to Harry's lap. Harry smiled appreciatively at Blaise before placing the hat on his head.

'Alright, so what do we have here?' The Hat murmured through Harry's mind. 'All mostly unchanged, it seems. I should have known you would be back, after all what did I tell you last time?'

'Yeah, yeah. I know.' Harry grumbled, and the Hat snorted in derision.

'Alright, I suppose I must go deeper than the typical Interpretation. We don't want you back here again in a few months, do we?' The Hat chuckled. 'Just a joke, just a joke... Oh... but what do we have here? Could that possibly be...'

The Hat was silent for quite some time. Harry hoped his sudden fear wasn't entirely apparent to the two other men. Blaise seemed to be studying the contents of the room, letting Harry have a bit of privacy during this invasive procedure. Dumbledore, on the other hand, was watching Harry intently.

'I'm afraid this decision is somewhat beyond my qualifications. From what I understand, there is a great potential latched to a branch of your destiny. Hmph, destiny. How very ironic.'

'Err, what?' Harry asked nervously.

'I apologize, but it is not within my rights to divulge information like this. The answers will come to you soon enough. All I may say is that you are truly designed for legend, providing you survive the steps needed to achieve it. So let's keep this simple, shall we? Are you at all interested in this power I speak of?' The Hat asked.

Harry scarcely needed to pause to consider the question. 'Absolutely.'

'And if this greatness would lead to the ability to utterly destroy your enemies... would you be willing to sacrifice the life you know and all you hold dear in order to achieve it?'

Harry hesitated, considering the consequences of his decision before replying. He had already lost his friends, what more could he lose? His mind briefly flashed to Sirius and what he would think of Harry changing houses and later gaining some strange new power. He would have to worry about that later. 'Yes, I suppose I would.'

'Then it seems we have our answer.' The Hat said, then audibly cleared its nonexistent throat.

"Slytherin. The boy truly belongs in Slytherin."

Blaise jumped up from his chair, clapping his hands in excitement. Dumbledore quickly floated the Hat back to it's place behind his desk, not speaking to the somewhat shaken boy in the red and gold chair.

"Welcome to the House, Harry. It may be a bit of a rough start, but I'll make sure everybody treats you right." Blaise grinned and hugged him tightly, getting caught up in the moment.

Harry smiled softly and turned watch Dumbledore speak to a portrait across the room. After a moment the elderly man walked back to the two and sighed.

"If you are absolutely sure this is what you want, I'm glad you will finally be where you belong."

Harry nodded determinedly. "I'm sure."

"Very well." The friendly tone in Dumbledore's voice was clearly forced as he looked towards the door. "Professors Snape and McGonagall will be here shortly. Hopefully we will have this all sorted out in time for your next classes."

True to his word, both professors entered a few minutes later. McGonagall eyed the group inside curiously.

"What is this regarding, Headmaster? The messenger said it was somewhat urgent." She asked.

Snape eyed Blaise curiously and greeted Harry with a scowl, but stayed quiet.

"Well, it seems Harry here was unhappy in his former House and came to me to request a re-Sorting. The Hat and him spoke for quite some time and they determined he was better suited for Slytherin." Dumbledore explained.

Snape sputtered indignantly. "That's preposterous!"

"Is this true, Harry?" McGonagall asked, almost sadly.

"Err, yes. Sorry." He said apologetically. Harry had always held the greatest respect for Professor McGonagall.

"It can't be helped, I suppose. I just wish you would have spoken to me first before taking such drastic measures." She said.

Harry shrugged. "I'm not sure much could have been done. The Hat actually wanted me in Slytherin to begin with... I just refused to go."

"And what, pray tell, has changed since then?" Snape interjected.

"I'd like to think that I'm growing up." Harry answered, definitely not wanting to divulge what little information the Hat had shared with him.

Snape eyed Harry for a moment. "Indeed... well then, follow me to your new House. Professor McGonagall will get your belongings in order, I'm sure."

With that, he turned on his heel and headed out of the office. Harry offered the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall one last rueful look before following behind, Blaise right beside him.

Harry could feel the heavy blanket of anxiety lift off of him as the Dumbledore's office door closed behind them.

Harry was trapped in a bottle, a large cork sealing out the water surrounding him. He bobbed up and down in the ravaging sea, his movements entirely controlled by the storm above. A sudden crash threw him against the cork and the force pushed it out of the stopper, Harry following behind. As he exited the bottle his body grew exponentially as the water and clouds above diminished to a fine mist around him. Moments later the mist dispersed and Harry found himself in pitch black darkness, hovering alone in the endless void of space.

As he gazed out into the infinite universe the universe gazed back.

Harry awoke to somebody roughly kicking his bed and running out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Rubbing his sore ear, he sat up in his black and silver bed. The piercing was aching yet again, but it wasn't intolerable. Harry shuffled out of bed and grabbed his robe, which was now enchanted to display the Slytherin crest and colors.

His House transfer had only happened yesterday and he was dreading facing the entire school at breakfast that morning, but he had promised Blaise he would make an appearance. Blaise had repeatedly reassured him the night before that the Slytherins would be more accepting than he anticipated, but he still had the Gryffindors to worry about.

Padding to the washroom to fix his bedhead, Harry shook his head in irritation. Apparently he had some glorious destiny ahead of him so two more years of dealing with Hogwarts students really should be the least of his worries. The Hat put him in Slytherin for a reason, so he knew he should make the best of it. At least, he noted with satisfaction, his facial hair was starting to really fill out. Blaise had teased him about the patchiness of it once, but Harry thought it made him look quite dashing.

Taking a deep breath, he left the washroom and headed out into the Slytherin Common Room. Most of the Slytherin Dungeon was walled with gray stone, the furniture all dark wood and more stone save for the plush black and green sofas and armchairs. It was decidedly similar to the Gryffindor Common Room with a different color scheme. Most of the Slytherins had already left for breakfast, but a few were still lingering behind. All conversation stopped as Harry entered the room.

Blaise was sitting on a couch with a couple of girls. Harry found himself irritably wondering if any of them were his girlfriend.

"Ah and here he is!" Blaise said loudly and quickly crossed the room, grabbing Harry's hand. The girls all leaned in close and started whispering. "Are you ready to go, Harry?"

Harry grimaced slightly. "I suppose. Let's get this over with."

- – -

Blaise stopped short at the large doors leading to the Great Hall.

"Alright, this is it. All Slytherin opinions of you will be formed by how you handle this. Draco is going to try to challenge you, to shame you and make you an outcast. I'll stand up for you, so please don't drag me down along with you. No pressure." He said seriously, then grinned.

"Thanks for the pep talk. I think I can handle this." Harry pursed his lips and ran his hand through his hair, trying to calm his nerves. He figured it would be simple enough to appeal to the Slytherins. They seemed to all appreciate confidence and a somewhat dickish attitude, which Harry figured he could bluff through without too much trouble.

"Don't mention it." Blaise answered cheekily. "I have full faith in you."

With that Blaise pushed open the door to the Great Hall and smoothly led Harry to the center of the Slytherin table where most of the fifth years sat.

"Hey, move over will you?" Blaise said, prodding Theodore Nott's shoulder.

Nott looked up, noting Harry smirking at him beside Blaise. Glancing at Draco, he shifted over so the two could sit. Blaise sat down smoothly and began to load a plate with strawberries and a croissant. Harry followed suit, helping himself to some pancakes.

It seemed Malfoy was about to say something before a familiar redhead approached the table.

"Well well well, look this. Sounds like the rumors are true after all." Ron sneered from across the table. Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas stood behind him with their arms crossed.

"Not now, Weasley. I'm really not in the mood." Harry said calmly, taking a sip of his orange juice. He needed to establish off the bat that he no longer associated with Gryffindors on friendly terms. Not that it would be much of a challenge.

Ron laughed. "Well that's too bad Potter. It's been so long since we talked, I figured we could have a heart-to-heart right now. So tell me, exactly how many of those Death Eaters-in-training scum have you whored yourself out to?"

Harry smiled darkly at the boy. "Ron, I'm flattered that you've decided to test out your hidden homosexual desires by trying to insult me with your various imagined scenarios, but the breakfast table is hardly the place for such topics."

Ron turned red instantly and clenched his fists, "You calling me gay?"

Harry shrugged and smiling, said, "I don't know, but I'm certainly not one to judge if you are."

Nearly the entire Great Hall had grown silent as everybody waited for Ron's response. Instead of saying anything, Ron lunged across the table, awkwardly swinging his fist at Harry's face. Harry easily avoided the punch and before anybody could stop him or say anything, he leaned forward, grabbed Ron by the collar, and smashed his face into the wood table. Food flew everywhere, covering the Gryffindor with whipped cream and egg.

"I can fight like a muggle too, Ron. Though I prefer more dignified ways of handling my problems." Harry said with a smile and quickly cast a strong nosebleed hex at Dean when the boy moved to defend his friend. Dean reared back, his nose pouring blood all over the floor. Seamus lunged towards Harry when Dumbledore stood up at the Head Table.

"Enough!" Dumbledore roared and stunned Harry, Ron, Dean, and Seamus with a single _Stupefy_. "I will not allow such uncivilized brawling in the middle of breakfast!"

The four of them were levitated to Dumbledore's office where they were revived and sat down in chairs across the large desk from Dumbledore. "So what exactly is the problem, gentlemen?"

"Nothing, sir. Ronald here tried to punch me, so I defended myself." Harry explained calmly.

Ron stood up angrily, food falling onto the plush carpet as he yelled, "He called me a fag and then he smashed my face into the table! He should be expelled or something!"

"Calm down, Mr Weasley. Please sit down and let me hear the rest of the story." Dumbledore said with a frown.

Dean shifted uneasily in his seat, "I was just trying to stop Potter from hurting Ron even worse." He said.

"Yeah, same here." Seamus added.

"Yes, you two are to report to Professor McGonagall tonight for a week of detention, and twenty points from Gryffindor each for fighting. You are dismissed." Dumbledore said, but stopped Harry and Ron from leaving, "You two are a different matter, however."

After Dean and Seamus left the office, Dumbledore addressed the two Gryffindors, "I was under the impression that you two were close friends. May I ask what exactly has caused this?"

"Potter's a filthy Slytherin now, I would never call him a friend of mine! I would check to see if he's taken the Dark Mark yet, the rate he's going." Ron spat out angrily. Harry rolled his eyes but said nothing.

"Is this true, Harry? Have you taken the Dark Mark?" Dumbledore asked humorously.

Harry laughed and pulled up his left sleeve, revealing nothing but pale skin. "No sir, I most certainly have not."

"Alright, well how about I give you two a chance to talk while I go run a couple of errands?" Dumbledore asked and quickly swept out of the room before either boy could respond.

Ron stared stupidly at Harry for a moment before asking, "So... you're sorry then? I mean, we used to be good mates and all. So I'll leave you alone if you leave me alone."

"Hmm, slow down. Sorry for what, exactly?" Harry asked, stretching out comfortably in his chair.

"Well you should probably apologize to me for calling me a fag and for slamming me into a table and all."

"Maybe you should apologize for telling everybody that I'm the Slytherin whore?" Harry asked pleasantly, a dangerous look shining in his eyes.

"When did I call you that?" Ron asked indignantly.

"Last week in Transfiguration. You've also called me various things all meaning about the same as that numerous times the past couple of weeks."

"Oh. Well I'm sorry if you're sorry..." Ron trailed off, seeing Harry stand up. The dark haired boy turned away from him, shaking his head.

"Alright, never mind. There's no way I could possibly try to put up with you." He suddenly spun around and grabbed Ron by the shoulders, pulling him up until they were face-to-face.

"You know what your problem is? You're just so fucking stupid! I can't stand it! You have no idea that what's going on in the real world outside of here is actually going to affect you, do you? Voldemort is back, you idiot! The entire Wizarding world knows we are, or at least used to be very close friends. You're going to be one of his main targets! But instead of preparing yourself for the inevitable, you sit on your ass gossiping about people and screwing around in class. Do you want to get yourself killed? Because I could easily take care of that for you right now, it would be so simple to end your pathetic, useless life!" Harry snarled, a dark rage controlling his words as he relished the fear suddenly filling his old friend's eyes.

Ron pushed him away and knocked over his chair as he jumped up. "You're mad! That's the reason you've changed so much, you've gone totally bonkers!" He pulled out his wand and aimed it at Harry, "Don't you come near me. I swear I'll blast your head right off!"

Harry laughed, "You honestly think you could stand up to me in a duel? You, who has been pissing away their entire year while I've been working my ass off trying to give myself even a remote chance of surviving a fight against Voldemort?" Harry pointed his wand at Ron and grinned wildly. "If you think you have the slightest chance of defeating me, go ahead. I'll let you take the first shot."

Eyes wide in fear and confusion, Ron backed away slowly, "You can't be serious! We can't duel in the middle of Dumbledore's office!"

Harry cocked his head to the side and said tauntingly, "Why, are you scared? You should be, you wouldn't last a minute in a fight against me."

The door to Dumbledore's office was flung open, hitting Harry in the back and making him fall to the ground. Harry's fall made him drop his wand, which Ron immediately snatched up as McGonagall and Snape came running in, followed by Dumbledore.

"What's going on in here? We heard yelling!" Professor McGonagall asked urgently as she assessed the situation. Harry was struggling to stand back up and Ron jumped over the fallen chair as he ran towards the three adults.

"Harry tried to attack me! He's totally lost it!" Ron yelled, clutching onto his and Harry's wand. Harry stood up and lunged for his wand, but Ron backed away from him.

Harry went to swipe towards Ron again, then realized how crazy he was acting. Breathing heavily, he tried to explain himself. "I haven't lost it... I haven't."

"Would you mind telling us why Mr Weasley looks so terrified?" Dumbledore asked calmly. All Harry could do was shake his head as he sat down slowly, ignoring his sudden instinctive need to flee the office.

"That crazy bastard threatened to kill me and then came after me with his wand!" Ron yelled.

"I didn't just come after you. You pulled your wand out first, so I challenged you to a duel." Harry said quietly.

Snape stepped in and asked, "Was this before or after you threatened to kill him, Mr Potter?" Harry didn't answer, his head swirling with adrenaline.

"Headmaster, it seems as though Harry isn't feeling his best at the moment. Perhaps this re-Sorting was a mistake, he already has enough on his plate as it is." Professor McGonagall said, eying the dark haired boy with caution, "We should take him to the Hospital Wing."

"Him? Take ___him_ to the Hospital Wing? What about me? I just had my life threatened by a madman!" Ron shrieked.

"Shut up Weasley, nobody cares about your pathetic little problems." Harry snarled and put his head in his hands.

"Oh boy, drama much?" Ron snorted.

Dumbledore turned to McGonagall, "Minerva, would you please take Ron down to the Hospital Wing while Severus and I figure this out?" The Transfiguration teacher nodded and gently guided Ron out of the room.

The headmaster carefully put his hands on Harry's shoulders. "Harry, would you please tell us what's been bothering you?"

"Albus, perhaps I should leave as well?" Snape asked.

"No, no, please stay Severus." Dumbledore said, then turned back to Harry. "Harry, we can only help you if you tell us what is wrong."

"Nothing's wrong with me... I'm just sick of the idiots in this school pretending everything happening out in the real world won't affect them." Harry muttered.

"So you think it's alright to threaten their lives?" Dumbledore asked, but Harry stayed silent. "Very well, I think that perhaps two weeks of detention with Professor Snape may be in order. This will, of course, interfere with your winter holidays, so you will be remaining here at Hogwarts for the duration of them."

Snape sighed heavily and shook his head. "Meet me in the Potions room after dinner tomorrow night Potter."

Dumbledore nodded. "Well, if everything is settled, you may go to your classes Harry. Remember- my office is open to you if you ever need somebody to talk to."

Harry nodded coldly and left the room without a further word.


	4. Chapter 4- Together We Await the Storm

Some slashy smut in this chapter...

Writing this sort of stuff is new to me, so I hope it's alright.

I have made an adultfanfiction profile for upcoming chapters with more explicit scenes :D The story is under the same username and title as it is here. I'll note which chapters are different in the author notes. (This is not one of them)

Bitumen

Chapter Four- Together We Await the Storm

Harry remained still for a moment before opening his eyes. This was not his familiar dreamscape, the crisp scent of wild magic replaced with the stale scent of someplace indoors and underground.

Suddenly Harry found himself moving out of his control in a slithering fashion. His view scanned the dark room before settling on the visage of a single terrified wizard. Harry barely had time to recognize the man before he was overcome with an uncontrollable blood lust.

Venomous fangs pierced the soft hide of his prey, hot copper liquid filling his mouth and running thickly onto the floor. Harry reared his head back and stroke again and again, momentarily letting himself be swept away in the vision.

It was over quickly. His mind buzzed and his stomach churned in a combination of euphoria and repulsion. Arthur Weasley's mutilated body lay beneath him, cooling in a large puddle of blood.

He awoke with a shout, covered in cold sweat. Ordinarily Harry dismissed his strange dreams as nothing but this case felt entirely different. He shivered at the memory of sinking his teeth into the man's flesh and shook his head, needing to focus. He needed to tell somebody- most likely Dumbledore, or at the very least Ron.

Harry started to get out of bed and realized to his horror that he had an erection. Mortification overruled and he rolled over to try to sleep some more. It had to just be a dream. How could it possibly be anything more?

Hours later Harry sat in the Great Hall, a group of Slytherins gathered around him.

"Is it true you fought Weasley in the middle of Dumbledore's office?" Theodore Nott asked.

Harry laughed and shook his head. "I wouldn't really call it a fight. The idiot pulled his wand on me but he was too scared to try anything."

"I heard you put him in the Hospital Wing!" A younger Slytherin Harry didn't know the name of chimed in.

"Hardly." Harry scoffed. "I think McGonagall took him down there but there was really no need for it. He was just exaggerating for attention."

"Well way to get detention with Snape your first day in our House. You know he won't go easy on you, right?" Theodore Nott added.

"Yes, I imagine it won't be entirely pleasant. But at least now I have an excuse for not staying with the Weasleys during the winter holidays." Harry sighed, watching a parliament of owls swoop over the tables. He had notified Sirius through the mail that he was being forced to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas, and had yet to hear back from him. He had only sent it last night, but winter break was only two days away.

Blaise grinned, brushing his hand along Harry's leg. "I think you handled the situation perfectly. Idiots like Weasley really can't understand much other than brute force and yelling."

Harry returned the smile. "My thoughts exactly."

Harry watched as a rather official looking owl dropped a letter in Ginny Weasley's hands. The girl opened the envelope and a moment later screamed and passed out on the floor. A cold sense of dread washed over him as he watched Ron grab the letter and skim its contents.

"What? No! That's impossible!" The redhead cried and passed the note to his brothers.

A large crowd quickly formed around the Gryffindor table as Harry remained frozen in his seat.

Harry sat quietly in the Offensive Magic classroom, his stomach churning with stress as he replayed the vision over and over. He could still nearly taste the blood, the man's screams echoing in his mind. Harry wondered if he should tell anybody, and if so, who?

The other Slytherins all showed up together, loudly talking about what transpired in the Great Hall.

"Did you see her faint?" Draco laughed, "How absolutely pathetic!"

Spotting Harry, he sauntered over and smirked down at him. "What all do you make of this, Potter? One less Muggle lover can't be a bad thing, am I right?"

Harry shrugged, showing no emotion to the blonde boy. "So he's dead, then?"

"Bled out in the Ministry last night! They say there was snake venom in his blood." Draco said with a laugh, gauging Harry's reaction.

Harry just nodded coldly and stared back down at his desk. A moment later Blaise walked in and sat down next to him.

"Are you alright? I know you and Ron used to be close." He asked, genuine concern reflecting in his eyes.

Harry shrugged. "I suppose. Right now I'm mostly concerned over how a dangerous creature got loose like that. Seems a little suspicious to me."

"I was thinking the same. There are theories, as I'm sure you've assumed." The handsome dark skinned boy said carefully, trying his best to avoid touching down on anything too political. He smiled at Harry again, perfect white teeth flashing behind a pair of full lips. Harry flushed despite himself, now was not the time to get caught up in teenage hormones.

Shortly after, Severus Snape swept into the room, his face entirely serious as he launched into the day's lesson without a moments hesitation.

"In light of recent events, we will be covering a short segment on defending against and attacking venomous creatures. Ordinarily this would involve sharing a class with Care of Magical Creatures." He paused to sniff distastefully at the thought of co-teaching with Hagrid. "But it may serve our purpose better to stay in the classroom."

The professor pulled out a small glass tank from his pocket and unshrunk it. Inside housed a variety of stunned snakes. "I have antivenom potions on hand in the case of an accident, but do try to avoid getting bitten by anything. It can be most... unpleasant. Find a partner and select a specimen. We will begin shortly."

Blaise quickly moved to the front of the room to choose a snake and returned, placing a thick tiger snake on the table. Pulling out his wand, Harry focused on the snake and unfroze it. The black and yellow-striped snake seemed panicked, tasting the air with its tongue and glaring at the two boys suspiciously.

/_So this is how it ends, hmm? A pity, I was hoping to be the prey of something more worthy./_

Harry glanced at Blaise before answering, /_And who is to say we are not?_/

/_Oh, a speaker? That's somewhat unusual at least. Will you stand by and allow my brothers and sisters to be killed here? You can hear their cries for mercy as easily as I./_

Harry frowned and listened to the room. Sure enough, while some of the other snakes were just as challenging as this one, others were crying pitifully to be released. Blaise must have noticed the flash of regret in Harry's eyes and laid his hand on the Parseltongue's arm.

"Erm, is everything alright? What's it saying?" He asked, his voice oddly strained as he shifted closer to Harry.

Embarrassed to be caught showing distress for the well being of subhuman creatures, he shrugged. "They're all sure we're going to kill them."

Caught off guard, Blaise eyed the snake with a strangely sympathetic look. "Well, we probably will be, right?"

"May I ask what you two find so interesting?" Snape interrupted suddenly.

A flash of irritability hit Harry as he suddenly snapped at the man, "Oh just having a moral dilemma over here regarding killing something I just had a short conversation with."

Everybody in the room stopped what they were doing to gawk at him.

/_Oh, calling over another human to help you take me down?_/ The snake challenged, inching forward threateningly.

Harry glared daggers down at the arrogant creature. /_You're really not helping, you know._/

"Hey Potter! What's mine saying?" Draco shouted across the room, his wand ejecting a small spurt of flames towards his snake, the poor reptile hissing in fear.

Not able to take it anymore, Harry gathered his things and left the room. Blaise quickly petrified the snake and followed Harry into the hall.

"Harry, wait up!" Blaise called, jogging after the boy.

Harry slowed and turned around, frowning. "You don't have to follow me Blaise. I'm fine."

Blaise smiled lazily. "If you say so. But I very well can't let you skip class alone. So where are we going?"

Harry laughed softly, shaking his head. "I don't know. The practice room, I guess." He said as they reached the door.

Closing the door behind him, Blaise summoned a ball of light to illuminate the mostly empty dungeon room. Out of habit, both discarded their robes. They had taken to wearing tanktops and slim fitting pants appropriate for dueling under their school clothes. Blaise's tattoos writhed on his arms, and Harry stepped closer to him.

"You know, I've never really asked before. How are your tattoos moving like that?" Harry asked.

"Oh yeah, I always forget you weren't raised by a magical family. All wizard tattoos are like this, they use enchanted ink." Blaise said, holding his arms out so Harry could get a better look. The caramel skin was heavily covered with intertwining black patterns mostly consisting of snakes and strange demonic looking creatures.

"Very cool... You know, I remember seeing you in that tattoo shop earlier this year." Harry said.

Blaise nodded and grinned wickedly. "I remember seeing you too. What were you doing there anyway?"

Harry brushed his hair behind his ear and turned his head, showing Blaise the bronze spiral hugging the side of his ear.

"Huh. I think I've seen a ring like this before... in a book maybe. Where did you get it?" Blaise asked, stepping closer to Harry and placing a hand on his side.

"Ah... it was my godfather's mother's, I think. I found it this summer." Harry murmured, Blaise's touch making his breath hitch.

Blaise seemed to notice the effect he was having on Harry, and toyed with the jewelry hanging from his ear. "Well, I like it. It looks good on you. Though I'd imagine anything would."

Harry blushed, his mind entirely clear of everything that had been troubling him earlier. "Thanks... So is there a meaning behind your tattoos?"

Blaise nodded and licked his lips slightly. "Well, a lot of it is influenced by old family traditions. It's a bit of a long story. As for the snakes... I've always had a bit of an obsession with them."

Harry smirked. /_And what do you make of Parseltongue__?/_

A dark look came over Blaise as he suddenly pushed Harry against the wall, pinning him against it with his body. Pressing a hand firmly on Harry's chest, he leaned in and whispered in the green eyed boy's ear, "Do that again and I can't be held responsible for my actions."

Harry brazenly wrapped his arms around Blaise. /_That almost sounds like a threat.../_

Blaise smiled wickedly before grabbing the back of Harry's head, pressing their lips together forcefully. Harry responded eagerly, a fleeting concern regarding his lack of experience as Blaise's thigh pressed roughly between his legs.

"You know... I've never actually done this before." He said. "Anything like this."

"I figured as much. Your innocence is positively delicious, Harry." Blaise hummed in the crook of Harry's neck. "Not that I'm all that experienced myself..."

Feeling slightly reassured, Harry scraped his teeth softly along Blaise's jaw. Blaise's hands slipped under Harry's shirt, fingers firmly pressing into the pale skin as he recaptured his lips. Hitching a thumb in Harry's waistband, Blaise nibbled softly on his lower lip until Harry opened his mouth. Their tongues met- fighting for dominance until Blaise chuckled softly and conceded to the stubborn Slytherin.

Harry explored Blaise with both tongue and hands, tasting his mouth while rubbing the other boy's arms and back. Blaise moaned deeply as Harry squeezed his ass and pressed Harry even tighter against the wall. A few minutes later Harry sighed heavily, his stress from earlier suddenly returning. "We should probably be getting back soon."

Blaise slowly licked from Harry's collar bone up to his neck and reluctantly pulled back. "I suppose you're right... I wonder how angry Snape is with us?"

Harry snorted. "I guess I'll be finding out after dinner tonight when my detention starts."

For once Harry found himself glad the Dursleys made him do pointless yard work during the summer if only for the experience in monotonous physical labor. As soon as he stepped foot in the Potions dungeon after dinner a scowling Snape directed him to a pile of filthy cauldrons. Many of the potion ingredients were impervious towards the few cleaning charms Harry knew, so he spent the rest of the evening furiously scrubbing away at the foul smelling gunk with a muggle scrub pad.

The next day Blaise gave Harry a tearful yet restrained hug farewell in the Common Room. The two weren't quite ready to make the closeness of their relationship known. A handful of other Slytherins nodded coolly goodbye as they left, and soon enough Harry was left alone in the eerily silent dungeon room.

Harry had received a reply from Sirius the first day of break, though it was very short. Sirius seemed quite upset about Harry's transfer to Slytherin, presumably information he received from Snape or Dumbledore. While Sirius wasn't entirely happy with him, the letter still ended with a joke requesting Harry not get his summer vacation taken away as well.

An unexpected perk of working for Snape was that Harry had a chance to talk to him outside of class. Occasionally Snape would stay in the dungeon, and Harry found, much to his surprise, that the Potions professor was an interesting and engaging person to have conversations with. Of course, much of it included Snape ridiculing his very limited knowledge on basically everything in the Wizarding world, but he ended up learning quite a bit about Pureblood customs and things most of his peers learned as children.

When in a particularly good mood, Snape would recount memories from when he was in Hogwarts. He never once mentioned Harry's father or his friends, and of course always avoided the topic of his dealings with the Death Eaters. They would, however, occasionally discuss different forms of magic. Harry was very interested in the fact that there were many different branches other than the basic things they learned at Hogwarts- such as Blood Magic and Necromancy. Because access to the knowledge of magic like that was limited, it was very unlikely anybody could learn what was not offered at Wizarding schools. This bothered Harry quite a bit.

"Why don't they at least offer basic classes in the different branches of magic? I for one would love to learn some basic Blood Magic." Harry asked one day as he ___Scourgified_ graffiti off of a table in the back.

"Because most of them are considered Dark magic." Snape said simply, sitting at his desk as he graded a stack of pre-break essays.

Harry frowned. "Alright, this is probably a stupid question..."

"Nothing out of the ordinary, I'm sure." Snape mocked, not without a trace of humor in his voice.

Harry paused, caught off guard by Snape's tone before continuing, "What exactly determines 'Darkness' or 'Lightness'? I mean... who gets to be the judge of _magic_?"

Snape raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Stunningly perceptive for one so ordinarily obtuse, Mr Potter. An interesting question, but I must assume you've never cast a Dark spell before."

Harry leaned against the broom, "No... definitely can't say that I have. As far as I know I've only even learned about the Unforgivables. And, you know, seen some Dark spells but I've hardly learned any."

"Indeed. Well, I'll try to summarize without getting too deep into complicated magical theory. There is still controversy over the origin of magic. Whether Light or Dark magic are different matters entirely or the same and filtered through the caster is in itself is enough to discuss at length, but the basic gist is that Light and Dark are completely different flavors. Much, not all mind you, but many spells have a distinct... feel to them. Some wizards are even incapable of casting one or the other, though that is very rare. In most cases it is very easy to determine whether something is Dark or not. Does that make sense?" Snape said, setting down his papers and leveling his gaze at Harry.

Harry frowned, mulling over this new information. "Well I've surely cast Light spells before, right? Like the _Patronus_. I don't really recall it being any different than say... _Alohamora_ or something."

Snape snorted and shook his head. "That is the definitive Light spell, Potter. Perhaps you were distracted by the gravity of the situation needed to cast a _Patronus_, but that spell is entirely fueled by the exact 'feel' of Light magic I meant."

"Hmm, you're probably right... then what does Dark magic feel like?" Harry asked, his curiosity intensely piqued.

"This is hardly the place to discuss such things." Snape said dismissively, standing up from behind his desk, "And I hardly intend to be the one to set you down _that_ path."

And with that he left the room, leaving Harry to his duties.

- – -

The two week long winter holidays ended quickly, as did Harry's detention with Snape. Harry was reading in the Common Room when the door opened suddenly, Blaise and a group of other Slytherins entering, all chatting excitedly amongst themselves. Harry noted Draco and a couple of others eyed him cautiously before splitting off from the group to talk in the corner, shooting Harry glances occasionally.

"Harry! How was your holiday with Snape?" Blaise chirped excitedly, plopping down on the couch beside Harry.

Harry shrugged. "Wasn't nearly as bad as I expected it to be. I'd daresay he can almost tolerate me now."

"Ah, I knew you could win him over." Blaise said with a grin. "Come on, I want to show you something."

Blaise stood, taking Harry's hand and pulling him down the hall to the fifth year boy's dormitory. As soon as the door closed behind them, Blaise pushed Harry down on a bed and jumped on top of him. Waving his wand so the curtain around the bed sealed itself closed, he cast a quick proximity charm and smirked mischievously.

"Sorry, it's been too long and I want to take advantage of you before anybody heads in here." Blaise explained and promptly began tugging at Harry's robes.

Harry laughed, though he was quite caught off guard. The two hadn't yet gone any further than their first makeout session. Not that he was at all opposed to trying anything. Sitting up so the dark skinned boy could pull his robes off, he craned his neck forward and hissed in his ear.

_/Oh Blaise... I missed you too_/

Blaise gasped softly. "I thought I heard my name in there... what did you say?"

Harry smirked in amusement. He had no idea what Parseltongue sounded like to the average person, surprised Blaise was even able to understand his name. "Oh, just that I missed you... /_Blaise_/"

Moaning deeply, Blaise pressed his lips against Harry's hungrily. Just as he began sliding a hand up under Harry's shirt, the proximity charm pinged.

"Oh, shit!" Blaise groaned, and the two quickly straightened themselves up and opened the curtain. Harry shifted down the bed so they were no longer sitting on each other and Blaise tossed him a rather heavy book just as the dormitory door opened.

Draco Malfoy sauntered in, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle close behind. Malfoy peered suspiciously at the two.

"There you are Blaise. I was wondering where you went off to." He sniffed, ignoring Harry for the moment. "My family missed you at the Christmas Ball. We were under the impression you and your mother would be attending."

Blaise pursed his lips in annoyance. "Yes, we were planning on making an appearance, but we were otherwise detained in France."

Malfoy nodded coldly. "Fair enough. How about you, Potter? How was your holiday?".

Harry raised an eyebrow. "As good as it could be, I'd imagine. It was quite the bonding experience with your godfather."

Crabbe and Goyle stood stupidly by the door as Malfoy crossed the room to his bed. Smoothing the covers, he sat elegantly and crossed his legs, staring at Blaise and Harry expectantly.

"Well then." He said impatiently, "What are we talking about?"

Harry laughed out loud. "Pardon?"

Malfoy scowled. "I've come to the conclusion that if I must share a room with you, we should at least be on speaking terms. I once again offer my friendship to you."

"Oh please, Draco." Blaise said, rolling his eyes. "Did your father put you up to this?"

Malfoy paused uncomfortably. "Perhaps. But it was my idea first. As a Slytherin Prefect, I must at least attempt to get along with my Housemates. And besides... I want to know for myself." He leaned forward, resting his chin on a hand. "What exactly was your motivation for switching Houses... Harry?"

Harry considered the blonde for a moment before turning to address his two lackeys by the door. "Are you two just going to stand there, or at least sit down and join the conversation?"

Both responded silently by crossing their arms and staring.

Blaise shook his head and laughed. "Don't mind them, they aren't much more than Draco's guard dogs. I'd doubt they even understand half of what they hear."

"Alright... well, to answer your question Draco, Blaise talked me into it after I told him about how I managed to set the entire Gryffindor House against me. The Sorting Hat agreed with him."

"Oh, please." Draco scoffed. "I know just as well as you that there's more to it. I can feel the Darkness in you from here. We've all been talking about it."

"Draco-" Blaise said warningly.

Harry stood abruptly, the book Blaise had tossed at him falling to the floor with a heavy thud. "What are you talking about?"

"The Dark magic. It wasn't as strong at first, but you've been positively swimming in it lately. Anybody raised around Dark magic can sense it on each other." Draco said slowly, as if he were speaking to a small child.

"Subtle as a Hippogriff just as usual, Draco." Blaise said cuttingly as he turned to Harry. "I was going to talk to you about it, Harry. I just didn't know how to bring it up since it seemed like you had no idea. In fact, that's what that book is for."

Harry shook his head, pacing the room as he reviewed everything the Hat had told him about this potential power of his. Could it possibly be some sort of Dark magic?

"That makes no sense. I've never even cast a Dark spell before! That sort of thing can't just suddenly manifest in somebody, can it?" He asked, never in his life imagining he'd be discussing Dark magic with _Malfoy_ of all people.

"Maybe you should try casting one. Just not while you're on school grounds. In fact, I know a group of like-minded people that would be more than happy to help you sort this out." Draco said cheekily.

Blaise glared at the blonde. "_Enough_, Draco! You've already helped plenty."

"Well, fine. I was just curious." Draco stood and headed for the door, before turning to smirk at Harry. "Glad to see you're coming around to the winning side."

As the door closed, Blaise gave Harry a nervous look. "You're not mad at me, are you?"

Harry continued his pacing. "Of course I am! Well... I don't know. So you're a Dark wizard, then?"

"The Zabini family has a long history of being particularly adept at Demonology. I'm no exception." He shrugged.

"Demonology?" Harry asked, his curiosity suddenly overriding all other emotion. "I've never heard of that."

"Don't worry about it for now. I marked a passage in that book for you, I really do think you should read it." Blaise said and handed the heavy tome to Harry. "It has to do with that earring of yours."

Harry sat back down on Blaise's bed and studied the cover. "Ancient Dark Mysteries? Huh, the title cuts right to the chase, doesn't it?" He snorted.

"Just try giving it a read. I may just be crazy, but it's the only explanation I could come up with." Blaise said nervously.

Harry frowned and opened the book at the mark. The entry described an ancient titanium spiral, bronze in color and topped on each side with red garnets marked with sealing runes. Though it didn't form a complete circle, it was supposed to serve the basic purpose of a ring that wrapped around the finger. The ring was said to contain Olethros, long since sealed away by an ancient foe. Nobody in recorded history was able to come into contact with the ring without experiencing excruciating pain comparable to that of the _Cruciatus _curse, but the book continued on to speculate that someday the ring would be discovered by one worthy to wear it without pain. What would happen to that person was entirely unknown, but the most common theory was that the deity would overtake the body of that person and claim it as its vessel.

Harry set the book aside and frowned. "Alright, first of all, there's no way this is talking about my ring because I'm still most definitely me. And Mrs. Weasley checked it for any Dark magic before I put it on and it was entirely clean."

"Hmm, well maybe it didn't activate until you wore it?" Blaise shrugged. "Take it off and let's check it again."

Harry decided to humor him and reached his hand up to unfasten the spiral. The piercer had altered the gems to be able to screw on and off of the ends for easy removal. Grasping one of the red stones, he gently twisted it one way and then the other. The gem wouldn't budge, even when he tried forcing it.

"Weird... you try it." Harry grimaced and tilted his head so Blaise could fiddle with it.

After a moment he gave up as well. "I really don't think it's gonna come off. I'd try a spell of some sort but I don't want to hit your head with it." Blaise frowned.

"What the hell!" Harry growled. "Well, that still doesn't mean it's this ancient artifact. I didn't experience any sort of dramatic change when I put it on. Oh, which brings me to another question. How in the world did you recognize this one ring from a short vague description you probably read ages ago?"

"Well you didn't read the beginning of the chapter, but it briefly talks about the Planars. There's an old children's story about them that stems from legend, they're basically the Gods of the three aspects of Magic. My mother's family has always been fascinated by the study of them, they've been wanting to get that ring from the Blacks for generations. That passage references Olethros, who is basically the personification of Dark magic. His name literally translates from an ancient wizard language to mean 'Destruction'." Blaise said, blue eyes burning intensely.

Harry snorted. "I read a short passage about Planars a few months ago... So you think this Dark magic god is inside this ring?"

"No Harry." Blaise said quietly. "I think he might be inside _you_. The book only speculated that it would take over its host. Maybe instead it merges with it."

Harry began to deny the possibility before the Sorting Hat's words returned to his mind. He remembered it scanning his mind and seeming to come across something unusual, and silently studying it for quite some time. A powerful destiny, it had said... designed for legend... Well, becoming the god of Dark magic seemed to fit the bill.

"Alright..." He said slowly, "Say I believe you and this book, and there is some ancient Destruction god inside my head. How exactly would I go about triggering it? I mean... like I said, I've never even cast a Dark spell before."

"That may be a good place to start then." Blaise said reasonably.

Harry frowned. "And I very well can't do that on school grounds. Hell, why hasn't Dumbledore noted this supposed Dark magic oozing from me and taken me into custody or something?"

Blaise took Harry's hands. "Only other Dark wizards can detect it on each other, so you're safe. Nobody in this school that can sense it would report it." Noting that Harry looked visibly relieved, he continued. "I would have brought a book covering the Planars in detail but it's permanently charmed to stay in the Zabini library. Come stay with my mother and I this summer and we'll figure this out. It's a long ways off still, but if anybody knows anything about Olethros, it's my mother and her siblings."

Harry thought of the Dursleys for the first time in months. The thought of even visiting to say farewell to the family that grudgingly raised him left a bad taste in his mouth. Wondering idly if he would ever see blood relatives of his ever again, he smiled softly at Blaise and nodded.

"I'd love to."


	5. Chapter 5- Poison In Your Skin

Sorry about the upcoming fluffiness. This chapter is pretty short but a lot happens so I figure it evens out.

Thanks to everybody that's been reviewing and PMing me! I have received a few grocery list-like messages telling me who to set up as couples and I appreciate your enthusiasm but I do have all pairings already planned out. Although some of you have been pretty spot on. Get out of my head :D

I am looking for input on preferences for Voldemort's appearance. I still haven't decided whether he'll be more human-like or still entirely snakeface-y

Bitumen

Chapter Five- Poison In Your Skin

Harry reclined on a blanket spread out on Hogwart's grounds, Blaise lazily twirling a small flower beside him. The two had taken their lunch outside to enjoy the beautiful spring day and a group of other Slytherins had flocked to join the two. Daphne Greengrass rested her blonde head on Blaise's shoulder, Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode practically in their laps as Draco and Theodore sat beside them. Harry found himself considering how easy it would be to snap their frail limbs, all except for Millicent of course, as she was quite stocky. He had recently taken to making a game of visualizing fights between himself and various people, thinking of it as additional dueling training as well as something to do when he was bored.

Despite his status as the Boy Who Lived, Harry had become quite popular among the Pureblood Slytherins, though he could tell they often had to restrain their conversational topics around him. Today was one of those days where he could tell they were itching to discuss something as Draco and Daphne kept glancing sidelong looks at him.

"Alright, enough already." He said somewhat irritably. "If you'd like me to leave, or at least plug my ears for a minute, just say something."

Draco stared at him incredulously before smirking. "If you would just hurry up and agree you're a Dark wizard, we wouldn't have this problem now would we?"

Pansy nodded eagerly. "You are, without a doubt. We can all feel it, it's as strong as most of our parents."

Harry sighed teasingly. "We've been over this already. You know perfectly well I can't detect this 'Dark aura' or whatever on myself. For all I know, some of you have been instructed to convince me to believe some bullshit story."

"But they are telling the truth, Harry." A voice said from behind them.

Harry and the others turned to see none other than Luna Lovegood, standing barefoot in the grass with a somewhat lost look in her eyes. She was wearing nothing but a tattered sky blue dress, heavy dark circles under her wide silver eyes. Gazing dreamily at the flower in Blaise's hand, she spoke again.

"She calls in my dreams. Aeris is looking for you, has been waiting for you... for so long... She wonders why you refuse her call..." She trailed off, swaying on her feet as Blaise suddenly sat up in alarm, knocking Daphne off of his shoulder. He considered her for a moment before pulling out his wand. Casting _Wingardium Leviosa_ on the tiny purple flower, he floated it over her head.

"Begone, pest." He said flippantly as she immediately turned her attention to the flower. With a soft smirk, he let the flower drift off across the yard, the small blonde girl meandering after it.

Daphne was the first to speak as she tossed her hair and scoffed. "What a weirdo. Who was that anyway?"

"That was Luna Lovegood, wasn't it? She's a Ravenclaw I met the beginning of the year. She said something strange to me then, too... What was that about, Blaise?" Harry asked with a frown, wishing this had happened somewhere a little more private.

Blaise hesitated for a moment, sharing a deep look with Harry. "It seems our friend Luna has been having some strange dreams recently."

"I recognize the name Aeris. Isn't that like the Goddess of Light magic in some kid's story?" Millicent asked.

"Yeah... Aeris, Moirei, and Olethros! That was my favorite story growing up, I still like to read it sometimes." Daphne laughed. "I always thought Olethros sounded sexy."

"Is that so?" Harry grinned mischievously, laughing when Blaise rolled his eyes and subtly pinched his side.

"Oh yeah, the story always described him as being all tall, dark and handsome while practically oozing Dark magic... yes please!" She giggled and nudged Harry flirtatiously. "You know, he kinda reminds me of you."

"Aw, Daphne. You flatter me." Harry drawled, entertained by the irritated sigh from Blaise. The two were still keeping their relationship a secret, though being with a member of the same gender wasn't necessary considered a bad thing in the wizarding world. They just saw no need to draw any unnecessary attention to Harry, knowing all British wizard pop culture would eat up any information they could get on his love life.

"No, but really." Harry said suddenly, "If Dark wizards can sense Dark magic on others, and I'm a Dark wizard, why can't I sense it on any of you?"

Nobody responded for a moment until Draco shrugged in embarrassment. "I don't think any of us will be powerful enough until we hit our magical maturity. Not unless you knew what to look for."

Harry frowned. "Ah, muggle-raised, remember? What do you mean by magical maturity?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Sometimes you're truly embarrassing to associate with, Potter. Every wizard doesn't reach their full magical potential until they're around 18 or so. Honestly, isn't this covered in a class somewhere?"

"I think I'd remember if it was." Harry sneered, though secretly pleased. He couldn't wait to find out his abilities a few years from now.

The group eventually got up and headed back to the castle for their afternoon classes. Harry and Blaise dropped back a little as they made their way across the vibrant green yard.

"So should I be concerned about this Aeris character?" Harry asked.

Blaise shrugged. "I really don't know, but it seems like Luna's been pretty heavily affected by these dreams. She looked like a ghost. I'm nearly inclined to believe Aeris is talking to her through the Dream Realm, if not somehow controlling her... but I can't really recall anything about her and Olethros being enemies. I'd be more concerned if somebody comes at you talking about Moirei, he's the one that locked up Olethros to begin with."

Harry stopped in his tracks and narrowed his eyes angrily at Blaise. "Isn't that something that may have been worth mentioning earlier?"

Blaise gave Harry an apologetic look. "I was planning on having my mother explain everything this summer. She knows much more about this than me. I'm sorry... I thought we'd have more than enough time."

"Alright... well, there's only a few more weeks until summer break. Hopefully I can manage against Luna until then." Harry said, laughing at the image of being attacked by the tiny wraith of a girl.

Harry awoke to a soft, warm weight crawling over him. The room was pitch black dark and strangely perfumed with jasmine and honeysuckle.

"Mmm, Blaise? What are you doing?" He mumbled, trying to reach for his glasses.

A small hand pinned his wrist down, a slim finger covering his lips. Long hair streamed down from above, tickling his face. This was definitely not Blaise. Harry began thrashing in the bed but his body was suddenly as heavy as lead.

"Shhh, shhh, don't worry. I'm here now. I've been waiting for you... I always knew you'd come back." A familiar female voice said.

"Luna? How did you get in here?"

"Luna is not here. It's me. I've finally found you. Don't you recognize me?" She whispered and opened her eyes. Pure bright light poured out from behind her eyelids, bathing Harry in painful illumination. Harry gritted his teeth and clenched his eyes shut.

"Aeris, isn't it? Can you turn down the light? You're hurting me."

The being clapped Luna's hands in delight. "You remember me! I knew that was you in there, my love!"

"Love? What? Do you think I'm Olethros?" Harry asked, opening his eyes at the light dimmed significantly. Luna's body was completely naked and straddling him, her eyes still filled with bright white light. Long blonde hair tumbled over her shoulders in messy ringlets, pale skin streaked with dirt and grass stains.

"Of course you are Olethros. You've been calling out to me from across the Dream Plane so I came looking for you. You may not have reached the surface of this mortal body yet, but I can feel you in there. I'm here to help, just as I helped your prison last through all of this time."

Luna leaned in close, her bare breasts pressing against Harry as she ghosted her lips softly along his cheek. Harry realized that he was also naked as she ground against him and grew aroused despite himself.

"And here I was assuming you two would be natural rivals." Harry said, not without a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"Foolish mortal, you understand nothing. Olethros is the other side of the same coin. Without him there is no me. Without me there is no him. There can be no creation without destruction, no shadows without the stars. But I can sense you're not ready yet. I wonder what you're waiting for..." She sighed sadly.

Harry didn't realize he had been dreaming until Luna's body dissolved before his eyes. The next thing he knew he was sitting upright in bed, familiar Slytherin decor surrounding him.

That morning Harry quickly sought out Blaise in the Great Hall and pulled him aside. The two doubled back and snuck into an alcove in the hallway nearby to talk. Blaise watched Harry quietly, not taking his eyes off the boy while Harry chewed on his lip uncomfortably.

"Did something happen last night, Harry? You seem shaken."

Harry paused in his pacing. "Yeah, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I'm just trying to think of how to explain it without sounding entirely crazy... What do you know about visions in dreams?"

"What, you mean like predicting events?"

"No. Well, if you know anything about that too, sure. But... well," Harry took a deep breath. "Last night I dreamed Luna visited me, but it wasn't her. Aeris was possessing her, said more crazy things like Luna was going on about before. That Aeris was looking for me, but not only that. She said she's in love with Olethros, that I'm him and he just hasn't come out yet. Apparently she considers him the reflection of herself and that they were partners of sorts. And I think she implied that she helped the ring survive until I found it."

Blaise stared at Harry in amazement. "We need to get you to my mother. The theory that Olethros and Aeris were partners and possibly lovers has been discussed, but it's always been considered unlikely and highly controversial. Did she threaten you at all?"

"No... in fact, it seemed like she was going to try to seduce me. At least until she realized it's still just me in here."

Blaise was quiet for a moment and Harry noted that he nearly seemed upset. "Hey... are you alright?" He asked, taking Blaise's hand in his own.

"Yeah... it's just that... well, how am I supposed to stand against a Goddess? You're so powerful, Harry. Your Dark magic draws me in like a magnet, same as the other Slytherins. It'll only be a matter of time until you're the most powerful wizard of our age. I just don't know why you're wasting your time with me." Blaise rushed out, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

Harry smiled softly. "Well, first off I still don't even know what Dark magic you lot keep going on about. But I'm fascinated by you Blaise. Your knowledge about every little thing is amazing and your agility when we duel is truly enchanting. And it doesn't hurt that you're painfully gorgeous... Plus you're the only person I can comfortably talk to about anything, even about insane things like this. I'd imagine anybody else would be scared off by me, yet here you are."

Blaise's bashfulness was immediately erased. Pulling Harry tight against him, he smiled and kissed him. "And here I am."

The nearly familiar stale air surrounded him yet again. Looking around, he saw countless shelves lined with strange crystal-like balls filled with mist. Legs moving forward on their own accord, Harry realized he was not in his own body. Scanning his surroundings for danger as he walked, he eventually reached a crystal ball that shone brighter than the rest. Long white fingers nearly reached out to brush the shining crystal and were immediately filled with intense pain. The crystal ball seemed to be unattainable.

The body whirled around angrily and spotted Sirius Black standing nearby. Voldemort's cold voice echoed between the towering shelves as he commanded Harry's godfather to retrieve the orb. Sirius refused and Harry bristled with intense anger. Pointing his wand at the man, he hissed "_Crucio_" and smiled maliciously as he watched his godfather writhe in agony on the floor.

Harry awoke with a gasp. Thinking back on the dream, he worked himself into a panic. His vision about Mr Weasley being killed came true, so it was more likely than not that Sirius was in terrible danger somewhere in the Ministry Of Magic. Jumping out of bed, Harry glanced at Blaise's sleeping form across the room. He considered waking the boy, and decided against it. The last thing he wanted was to put Blaise in trouble. Besides, he was sure Draco and some of the others had told their parents about how Harry had been changing. If anything this was just a trap to take him away from Hogwarts.

Harry had actually put a lot of consideration into his opinion of Voldemort. He obviously despised the man that killed his parents, but still felt somewhat conflicted. Witnessing his resurrection the previous year had been the most terrifying moment of his life but reflecting on the event made him nearly shiver in delight from the memory of the sheer power rolling off the man. His disgust towards his parent's murder was nearly outweighed by sheer curiosity and lust for knowledge.

So he focused on the task at hand- how to get to the Ministry. He didn't know how to apparate, certainly had no portkey and doubted he could use any of the castle's fireplaces to floo. Silently pacing the dormitory floor, he struggled to come up with a way to get there, focusing intensely on the hallway he saw in his dream.

The next thing he knew, Harry heard a loud pop and found himself in the room he was visualizing. Grinning in spite of the situation, he realized he had somehow managed the impossible and apparated to the Ministry. Looking around, he saw the towering shelves filled with misty crystal balls. The rows went on for what seemed like forever. Hearing footsteps running in his direction, Harry ducked behind the row of shelves closest to him and cast a quick Disillusionment Charm on himself. A group of Death Eaters with silver masks stopped a few feet away from where he was crouched.

"The sound came from here." A male voice said. Harry was quite sure it was Lucius Malfoy's.

A deep feminine voice snarled, "We should have put the anti-apparition wards back up once we got here!"

"Yes, but we had to be ready for the Dark Lord to apparate here if there was a problem." Another male voice said.

Harry realized he was outnumbered. Gripping his wand tensely, he listened closely to determine their exact locations. He would have to move quickly to take them all down. This was definitely not something him and Blaise had covered.

"Silence, you idiot! Somebody is here, we can't talk about our plans when they could be sitting here listening in!" The female voice snapped.

"Then we should probably capture the intruder, shouldn't we?" Malfoy drawled, his footsteps nearing Harry's crouching frame.

Before Harry could move the group of Death Eaters fired Stunning spells in every direction. Many of them hit Harry, making him drop his Disillusionment Charm. The woman gasped in delight and grabbed him by his neck.

"Why if it isn't Harry Potter! So now where are your friends?" She squealed with pleasure and nodded to the two behind her. Wands illuminating the area with dimmed _Lumos _spells, they scanned the area and found nobody else.

Unable to move, Harry let the group of Death Eaters drag him down a couple of rows until he was in front of the shimmering orb from his dream. It sang out his name, beams of light caressing his face as he approached. A tiny plaque underneath displayed Harry's name engraved in gold.

"Would you be a dear and pick up that sphere for us, love?" The woman removed the _Stupefy _spell from him and vanished her silver mask. Harry vaguely recognized her from The Daily Prophet as Bellatrix Lestrange, some madwoman that had recently escaped from Azkaban.

"Why exactly would I do that?" Harry asked, glaring at the group of Death Eaters aiming their wands at him.

"_Crucio!_" She hissed, blood red lips curling up into a smile as she watched Harry fall to the ground.

To say that Harry had never experienced anything like it in his life would be an understatement. His own nerves turned against him, alight with pure electricity, making his back arch and limbs twitch. Yet after what felt like an eternity of pure pain, the horrible sensation seemed to dwindle. A switch flipped within Harry as the burning changed to an intensely powerful tingling that shook his very bones.

The unidentified wizard put his hand on Lestrange's shoulder in an attempt to stop her. "Don't hurt him too much, our Lord wants him alive."

The woman pouted and lowered her wand, not noticing the barely perceivable field of energy engulfing the young wizard until it was too late. Towering shelves trembled violently as a shockwave radiated out from Harry's body, throwing the three Death Eaters back. A tinkling rain sounded above their heads, and moments later countless orbs shattered on top of them. Harry stood unharmed amongst the wreckage, a deep black umbrella of pure Darkness protecting him from the shards.

The avalanche was over in seconds. The third Death Eater lay dead, his body impaled by hundreds of orb fragments. Harry's shield oozed down on top of him like thick tar and absorbed into his skin. The sensation made him shiver as he scanned the room for the Lestrange and Malfoy. The two seemed to have disappeared. Harry's prophecy orb somehow sat on top of the wreckage directly next to him, innocently humming. Harry reached out to grab it, only for the glass to shatter the moment his fingers grazed it.

Shrugging humorously, Harry made his way carefully through the pile of broken orbs. He eventually stumbled into a large room that was entirely empty except for a arched doorway with a veil hanging over it. Not stopping to investigate, Harry spun around to face the entrance of the room. So far there had been no sign of Sirius. In the brief window of time before the Death Eaters arrived, Harry wondered if the vision had been a fake. Moments later numerous shadow-like figures swooped in and surrounded him.

"Give us the prophecy, Potter." Malfoy commanded, and Harry smirked darkly at them.

"Sorry, but you seemed to have been misinformed on the proper handling procedures for it. The thing broke the second I touched it."

"You wouldn't break it, it's a prophecy about you! You do want to know what it says, don't you?" One of the Death Eaters in the back shouted.

"I didn't break it you idiot, it shattered when I tried to pick it up." He said, not taking his eyes off of Malfoy.

Lucius Malfoy sneered and stepped towards Harry. "Do you really expect us to believe that, Potter? Now hand it over."

A sudden burst of white light flew into the room. It separated itself into numerous streaks of white, individual members of the Order branching from it. Sirius grabbed Harry's side and pushed him away from the Death Eaters.

"Wh-what are you doing here, Sirius?" Harry asked bewilderedly.

"Dumbledore received a report of an underage apparition and realized you weren't at Hogwarts. He tracked you down to here." Sirius shouted over the sounds of the battle going on between The Order members and the Death Eaters. "You need to leave now!"

Harry shook his head, "I can't just leave you! I've been training, I can hold my own in battle." He said determinedly and started aiming Blasting Curses at the mob of black robes.

The group of Death Eaters managed to fight their way into the middle of the room, pinning Harry and Sirius up against the stone archway. Eerily familiar voices whispered in Harry's ear as he carefully avoided the strange material hanging from it. Something in the back of his mind screamed danger.

Lucius Malfoy approached the duo but wasn't quite fast enough. Harry disarmed the man as Sirius cast a spell that sent him flying across the room. The two grinned at each other and continued fighting when Bellatrix appeared in a cloud of smoke and shot a blast of green light at the two, narrowly missing Harry and pinning Sirius in the shoulder. Harry's godfather's smile froze as he fell backwards. He descended into the strange veil, translucent ghostly arms reaching out and pulling him away.

A cold rage filled Harry's very core. Time nearly seemed to slow as he turned to pursue the cackling witch. The murderous look in his eye seemed to startle her and she fled from the room.

Harry chased Bellatrix into a long, dark hallway where she disappeared into the shadows. Harry trembled with anger as she tauntingly chanted "I killed Sirius Black, I killed Sirius Black!"

"Come out here and fight me, you bitch!" Harry screamed, his words echoing down the long hallway. Bellatrix peeked her head out from a dark alcove with a smirk of self satisfaction.

"Awww, does Potty want to play?" She chided, slowly approaching the fuming boy. "I can play with ickle Potty."

The woman stepped out into the hallway cockily and grinned. Harry whipped out his wand and without hesitation yelled, "_Crucio_!"

An overwhelmingly delicious sensation filled him as he watched Bellatrix writhe in pain on the floor. His own magic rushed at his ears, making his whole body tremble in a nearly orgasmic matter. He hoped her screams were at least ten times louder than his were earlier. Darkness, thick and heavy like syrup flowed through the space around him. It enveloped him like a blanket, caressing him lovingly and making him shudder with pleasure.

A husky voice softly caressed his ear. "It feels good, doesn't it? Getting revenge on somebody that so terribly deserves it... just look at how much pain she's in."

Keeping his wand on Bellatrix, Harry turned slowly and found himself face-to-face with Voldemort. The snake-like man smiled darkly, red eyes illuminating the inky shadows.

"I am impressed, Mr Potter. Not only were you able to cast the spell, you don't even have to focus on the person you're using it on. It takes a certain level of power to be capable of something like that." He whispered into Harry's ear, placing a hand intimately on his side. Surprised by the sudden contact, Harry broke the spell and stumbled away from the Dark Lord. The man's presence seemed to neutralize Harry's building power, his knees nearly buckling beneath him as he struggled to stand.

Bellatrix shakily rose to her feet and giggled. "Can I kill him, my Lord?"

Voldemort eyed Harry and shook his head. "Take him to your rooms. It seems certain aspects of my plan are changing."

Bellatrix nodded in delight as she pulled Harry tightly against her chest. The last thing Harry saw was Dumbledore appearing in a fireplace against the wall before the room disappeared.


	6. Chapter 6- The Stranger's Candy

Sorry about the delayed update, I just moved and it took forever to get internet at my new place. Hopefully this chapter makes up for it. A scene (and a half) has been edited out. You can find the full version under the same author and title on adultfanfiction.

Bitumen

Chapter Six- The Stranger's Candy

- – -

The sounds of the battle in the Ministry instantly disappeared when Bellatrix portkeyed herself and Harry away. The woman's shrill laugh pierced Harry's ears as they were sucked away from the hallway and landed hard against a sudden solid surface. Bellatrix immediately dropped Harry and used her foot to roll him onto his back.

"Well, well, well!" She exclaimed with a grin, "Aren't we just in the biggest sort of mess?" Harry struggled to crawl away from the mad woman, but she viciously kicked the side of his head. Everything went black as Harry passed out.

- – -

Harry awoke to the sounds of a woman screaming. Blinking until his eyes focused, he sat up and immediately felt nauseated. Tenderly touching the back of his pounding head, he felt something warm and sticky. He realized it was blood and laid back down, squeezing his eyes shut against a massive migraine.

The source of the screaming, much to whatever delight Harry could feel at that moment, was Bellatrix. It seemed as though she was being held under a particularly strong _Crucio_. Shifting his eyes, Harry realized the person casting the spell was none other than Voldemort. The man looked beyond furious as he watched the woman writhe against the desk in agony. Finally, he released the spell and left the room without saying a word. Bellatrix fell to her hands and knees and coughed up a dark mass that Harry could only assume was blood.

Suddenly shooting her head up, Bellatrix wiped the blood off of her mouth with the back of her hand and grinned maniacally, "Enjoyed that, didn't you?"

She slowly rose to her feet and approached the boy. Digging her nails into his scalp, she heaved him up. "You managed to ruin everything by breaking that prophecy. Nobody got to hear it, nobody has any idea what it could have possibly said. So now the question is, what shall we do with you?"

Harry glared at the witch, "What, your master didn't give you any orders on that?"

"Actually, he told me that you were going to be rooming with me for a little while. Now won't that be fun?" She asked with a smirk and fastened something tightly around his neck. "That's why you have this lovely collar, it's to make sure you don't go running off. Welcome to my personal rooms, Potter."

He took note of the general layout of the rather large room. The walls covered with dark oak paneling, the stone floors bare save for a large rug in the center of the room. The decorations were relatively sparse, save for a few paintings and some ornate furniture. A magnificent canopy bed and dresser sat against the left wall. A small study of sorts was against the right wall, complete with a bookshelf, a plush armchair, and a desk heaped with papers. Just beyond the desk was an open door, and at the head of the room a pair of thick curtains were drawn shut. Behind the two was another door. Harry assumed this one led to the hallway.

Harry let out a daring laugh, "I never would have imagined you'd be needing a desk. I assumed you were just Voldemort's fuck toy."

Bellatrix raised her hand sharply, making Harry flinch as he waited for the blow to strike his face, but instead she stroked his cheek softly. "Oh Harry..." She said sweetly, "We are going to have fun, aren't we?"

"If by fun you mean both of us trying to kill each other, then yes." Harry said, slapping her hand away.

"Well, we shall see..." Bellatrix grinned darkly, "You see, you don't have your wand and I do happen to have mine. It would be far too easy to kill you like this, and that wouldn't be any fun at all. And anyways, I'm under strict orders to not let you die... yet." She softly stroked his cheek again and brushed his hair behind his ears in some twisted mockery of tenderness.

"Get your hands off of me, you filthy bit-" Harry was cut off by a sharp gasp from the woman.

"Well now what do we have here, little Potter? It looks like somebody has been playing in my dear Aunt Walburga's jewelry box. This certainly answers some questions..." She said, lightly tracing the ring in Harry's ear. There was a momentary flash of near reverence in her eyes before lapsing back into her typical air of general insanity.

"What, you recognize this ring?" Harry asked, a little excited despite the situation.

Bellatrix giggled childishly and backed Harry against the wall near her desk. "Why yes, I most certainly do. And I'm sure you'd like me to tell you about it, wouldn't you?"

Harry nodded and she yanked his collar, making Harry fall to his knees. "Well you'll have to do something for me first..." She trailed off, a thoughtful look in her eyes, then shook her head. "I can't come up with anything right now. How about you stay right there while I get some work done? Perhaps I'll have come up with something when I finish."

Bellatrix moved to her desk and immediately began to write ferociously, her attention seemingly focused only on her work. Harry decided if she was going to ignore him he might as well make himself comfortable. Planning on moving to the armchair beside her desk, he tried to stand up. The instant he moved, Bellatrix stood up and shot a _Crucio_ directly at him.

Harry crashed to the floor and screamed until she set her wand back down, "I told you to stay right there, little Potter. I think I need to teach you how to follow directions." She sat back down and grinned at him, "Now _stay_!"

The last time Bellatrix had _Crucioed _him, Harry had been filled with a strange power that had destroyed everything around him. He waited for it to return but all he felt was a strangely pleasant vibration at the base of his spine overlapping the pain wracking the rest of his body. Bellatrix stood over him and smiled sweetly before dragging him by the hair over to the desk's chair. Sitting down, she spun around to look down at the boy lying on the ground by her feet.

"Now I'd say this is about the right position for you... You've had the world at your feet most of your life, so now you can see what it's like." She smiled wickedly and returned back to her work.

- – -

What felt like hours later, Bellatrix finally finished doing whatever she had been working on and stood up, somehow managing to kick Harry painfully in the ribcage. Gently picking up a long silver chain, she bent down to attach it to his collar. Satisfied, she jerked it towards her, pulling him forward and smashing his head into the desk.

"Aww, oh dear!" She cooed and dragged him across the room towards her bed. "You're quite accident prone aren't you?"

Harry rolled away from the grinning woman, but she picked him up and dropped him onto the black velvet blanket. He landed on his back and tried to crawl away from her, but a quick burst of electric pain from the collar stopped him. "Stay still Potter. We're going to work on teaching you how to follow directions."

Bellatrix playfully bounced onto the bed next to Harry and grabbed one of his hands. "Alright my kitten... let's start out with something easy. Tell me how lovely I look tonight." She smiled, playing with his fingers.

Harry glared at her and snapped, "You look like a filthy child molester, the way you've got your hands all over m-" A dangerous look flashed through Bellatrix's eyes as she snapped one of his fingers. Harry screamed and tried to crawl away from her as she backhanded him, slashing his face with her nails.

"Now let's try this again... don't I just look gorgeous tonight?" She asked, trailing a finger down his cheek and wiping the blood off his face. Harry glared at the woman as she licked his blood off her fingers and narrowed his eyes.

"Actually, you look like a desperate old woman." He snarled, and when Bellatrix lunged towards him, he pushed her back and held her down by her shoulders, ignoring both the pain in his broken finger and from the collar. "Why exactly are you throwing yourself at me like this? Has your great Lord Snake-Face been turning you away lately, so now you're targeting underage wizards?" He asked tauntingly.

Bellatrix struggled to sit up, but Harry held her down. The woman laughed and leaned her head up, "Well you don't seem to be all that bothered by it, do you? Look at the way you've got me pinned down to the bed. Tell me, little kitten, have you ever been this close to a woman before? Have you ever felt the warmth of another person against you?" She asked with a dark grin. Harry opened his mouth angrily to answer when there was a knock on the door.

"Oh yes, do come in!" Bellatrix shouted and the door opened slowly. Severus Snape swept into the room, not glancing up as he started talking.

"Our Lord asked me to deliver you a message regarding your guest-" He stopped, seeing Harry straddling Bellatrix on her bed. "Well then, perhaps I should come back when you're not busy." He said dryly.

"Oh Severus, darling, it's not a problem. Dear little Harry and I were just playing a game." Bellatrix laughed and roughly shoved Harry, who was staring at the man in shock, off of her chest.

"I see... well you do work fast, don't you Potter? You've been Bellatrix's captive for barely a day and you're already making yourself quite at home." Snape said dryly.

"Oh, here to save me, are you?" Harry snapped, glaring at the man and clutching his broken finger with his other hand. "Or have you been Voldemort's lackey this whole time? It really wouldn't surprise me, you know. That whole time over winter break... you were thinking about bringing me to your master, weren't you?"

Snape laughed darkly, shaking his head. "The rate you've been going, I'd imagine you would have been the one asking me to take you to him."

"You're the one that wouldn't even tell me about Dark magic to begi-" Harry growled before Bellatrix interjected.

"Excuse me for interrupting this little reunion, but we were in the middle of something here. Right now we're working on learning about following directions. Would you like to help, Severus?" She asked, speaking as though Harry was a young child.

"I'm afraid not, I'm quite busy at the moment. About that message I was asked to deliver to you..." Snape reached inside his robe and pulled out an envelope. After Bellatrix gleefully snatched it from his hand, he surreptitiously nodded at Harry with a slightly worried look and swept out of the room.

Bellatrix jumped off of her bed and opened the envelope. Pulling out a letter, she quickly read and burned it. Turning back to Harry, she grinned menacingly, "Well little Harry, it seems as though you're going to be staying with me for quite some time! Yes, the Dark Lord never fails to come up with a perfect plan."

Grabbing his silver leash, she yanked it so he fell off of her bed and crashed onto the floor. "I'm actually feeling quite tired, I think we should both be turning in for the night. You'll be sleeping on the floor next to my bed. I do hope you don't roll around in your sleep, the chain is set to shock you if you move too much."

Harry watched the woman crawl into the canopy bed and fall asleep like any ordinary witch at the end of a tiring day. Harry knew better, however. The woman was the murderer of his godfather, and possibly the one that would end up executing him if he didn't manage to get his wand back. Wishing he had taken the time to attempt to learn wandless magic, he lay awake on the cold floor and plotted ways to murder the woman sleeping above him, each one less likely to work than the one before.

- – -

Bellatrix strode through the hallway of Riddle Manor, a slight smile playing on her lips. The Dark Lord may have been angry at her before, but he was bound to be pleased by her update regarding their guest. She was headed to the small study where he preferred to get his work done to give her first report on Potter. Knocking on the door, she waited until that quivering little creature Pettigrew let her in. He quickly scurried to the back corner and tried to remain inconspicuous. Out of all the Death Eaters Bellatrix managed to frighten him the most.

Bellatrix smirked and waved playfully at the pathetic creature, then turned to the Dark Lord and curtsied. Red eyes flashed as they glanced up at the woman.

"Hello Bellatrix. I do hope you have good news for me." Voldemort said softly, dangerously.

Bellatrix nodded eagerly, "Indeed I do! I believe I have discovered the meaning behind these changes Lucius' son has reported. Tell me, my Lord, what do you know of the Planars?"

Voldemort's eyes narrowed impatiently. "Just get on with it."

"Oh yes, of course. I have reason to believe Potter is under the influence of the Dark God Olethros. He's wearing an ancient artifact my family has held onto for many generations. Every Black has tried on the ring, hoping to discover the one destined to release Olethros from His prison, but it has horribly burned every witch or wizard that has so much as touched it." She paused, holding her right palm upright to display a shiny scar on her index finger. "I used to dream of Olethros choosing me to be His inheritor, though it was generally believed He would only choose a male."

"And why would Harry Potter of all people be chosen?" Voldemort demanded, standing dramatically.

Bellatrix grinned wildly. "I like to imagine He intentionally chose somebody that would most alter Moirei's plans. This would definitely explain the radical change in our young friend's magical core though. Draco was most certainly correct, he is positively saturated with Dark magic. According to the legend Olethros is currently merging with Potter's very being until they are essentially the same being, though this is entirely speculation."

"The Black family had access to this artifact but do not entirely know what it does?" Voldemort asked suspiciously.

Bellatrix shook her head. "The basic legend of the Planars is common knowledge from children's fables, of course. Few people are aware of the origin of the lore though. I believe the Zabini family has studied it quite extensively, our families have never gotten along since my ancestors refused to give the ring to them. From what I recall of Lucius' report, Harry and Blaise Zabini have become quite close. There's a good chance Harry knows more about this ring than I do."

Voldemort nodded. "Very well. Do what you can to get any information from him." He stood silently for a moment. "It should be easy enough for you to convert him to our side. Do whatever you must, I will be checking on his progress shortly. You are dismissed."

Bellatrix curtseyed deeply and quickly made her way out of the office.

The sky was raspberry in color as a shower of pink rose petals sprinkled over Harry, the air vibrating around him with the soft sounds of a woman humming. Harry sighed, knowing now that he was in another one of Aeris's dream-visions.

"I know you're around here somewhere." He called out. The petals froze around him as the humming halted.

"My love? Are you there?" A voice chimed. "I had found you and then you left again... I was so worried..." A sudden wind shifted the air and the petals swirled around until they formed the vague shape of a female body.

"Yes, well you're the one that brought me here, aren't you?" Harry asked and was quickly enveloped in the bundle of rose petals. The perfumed softness covered his body as Aeris embraced him.

"I've never brought you here, darling. You come all by yourself. That's how I found you in the first place. No other human form has ever made their way here without my invitation." She whispered through him.

"Is that so? Well, do you think you could find a way to come rescue me?"

The petal body pulled back. "Come? But you're here already..."

Harry shook his head. "I can't stay here forever though. I have things to do, back in the real world."

"We could make this the real world! Just you and me... forever... Then I'd never lose you again." The voice was nearly desperate.

"Maybe someday." Harry lied, deciding it was in his best interest to appeal to the Goddess's good side. "I'm not even the one you really want, aren't I? You're still waiting for Olethros to come out."

Rose lips formed a small frown. "Yes... but He's so close. I can taste Him on you..."

Harry realized this was potentially his only opportunity to have some questions answered. "But when will He come? And will I die when it happens?"

There was no response, and the world slowly started to fade away.

"I must say your lack of enthusiasm is quite depressing for me." Bellatrix sighed, breaking off yet another _Crucio_. "You barely even scream for me anymore."

Harry had been in captivity for a few long days now. His body seemed to have, strangely enough, adapted to the pain of her curses, replacing it with an overwhelming and pleasant sensation. Harry daringly smirked up at her, his head spinning from the tingling overtaking his body. "Well perhaps you should try harder?"

Bellatrix smiled sweetly in return, "Perhaps I shall... there is something I've been wanting to try on you, little kitten." She reached into her robes and pulled out a long dagger. Twirling it with her fingers, she pushed Harry onto her bed and traced it along his face.

"I wonder what all your adoring fans would think if your famous scar was covered by a face full of them?" She murmured, lightly slicing his face with the tip of the blade. Harry struggled to get away from the woman leaning over him, but she just moved the knife next to his eye. "Or perhaps cutting out those pretty eyes of yours would cause a bigger reaction?" Flicking his glasses off with the knife, she started to lightly trace over his cheekbone.

"Get off of me you bitch!" Harry snarled, trying to roll his face away from the woman, who was still smiling in an unsettlingly caring way.

Bellatrix opened the top of his robes and trailed the blade down his neck. "Oh, what's wrong kitten? Am I frightening you?"

"You're fucking crazy!" He yelled, then gasped as Bellatrix dug the dagger into his collarbone and sliced shallowly up neck. She grinned manically, eying the bleeding cut, then pressed herself against Harry and slowly licked the blood off of his neck. Harry let out a low moan, then stopped himself and thrashed against the woman in horror.

"Oh, you liked that, didn't you?" Bellatrix asked and gave him another cut down his chest. Smiling as she watched him hold back another moan, she nuzzled her face into his neck and whispered, "I never would have imagined you to be into this sort of thing... Let's see what else will make such delicious noises..."

Bellatrix opened Harry's robes all the way and cut his undershirt open. She threw him a quick smirk then slowly dragged the tip of the dagger into the skin just above his waistband up to his chest. Harry let out a strangled gasp as she finished and pressed herself tight against him.

"What... what are you doing?" Harry groaned as she bit into his neck, "Are you a fucking vampire or something?"

Bellatrix lifted up her head and laughed, "Hardly, little kitten. One doesn't have to be a vampire to enjoy blood and pain." She dropped her head and bit his neck again.

Harry moaned and struggled in vain to push the woman off of him, "Why are you doing this? I thought you were trying to kill me or whatever you plan was."

"Oh Harry, if I wanted you dead I would have killed you a while ago." Bellatrix giggled and lightly bit his jaw, "No, right now I'm just using you for my entertainment."

"Mmmmhh, I see..." He trailed off as Bellatrix started to bite down his chest, "Just using me as a playtoy until good ol' Snakeface tells you to finish me off?"

"Of course not!" Bellatrix sat up, looking at Harry with mock horror, "And you should refer to the Dark Lord with more respect." She grinned and pulled Harry's mouth to hers.

Harry froze as the woman aggressively pulled at his bottom lip with her teeth until a voice in the back of his head told him to give in. Maybe if he didn't resist he would be able to gain her trust and somehow gain access to his wand. Relaxing for the first time in weeks, Harry let himself fall into the kiss. Bellatrix, noticing Harry's change in attitude, laid back down on top of him and forcefully held his head in her hands. She nipped roughly at the tip of his tongue, creating a soft moan from him. Harry wrapped his arms around her back and unwittingly started to enjoy himself.

Harry's mind briefly flashed to Blaise, but his guilt was wiped from his mind as Bellatrix's hand reached into his pants. He had never gone this far with Blaise, not wanting to rush things since they would have the whole summer together, but Bellatrix left him with no choice.

She began, as he reflected in hindsight, to essentially rape him with pure Dark magic. It formed a physical cloud around him that filled him with such immense pleasure that he orgasmed almost immediately.

He laid panting on the sheets, gasping for breath. Bellatrix smiled darkly and pulled his pants back on.

"How... how did you do that?" He managed to force out between breaths.

Bellatrix licked her lips and grinned. "One of the many perks of serving the Dark Lord."

- – -

The next morning Bellatrix removed Harry's collar, which had prevented him from moving while she was out of the room. Harry, exceedingly glad he was finally allowed to move as much as he wanted, immediately headed towards the bookshelves as soon as Bellatrix left. Much to his irritation, most were written in an unfamiliar language or were related to the Black family. There was a supply of Dark magic spellbooks, but everything he read required a wand.

As excited as he was to have access to these books, he found himself having a hard time focusing. His mind kept going back to his current situation. It was quite clear Bellatrix was under orders to convince Harry to join Voldemort, though her methods up until last night seemed questionable at best. He supposed if he wanted to convert somebody to the Dark side he would want to only show him the perks, not torture the person. The only real conclusion he could come to was that Bellatrix was positively insane.

He kept thinking back to the strange shadow-like magic Bellatrix had summoned the previous night. She had said Voldemort had granted her the power. He wondered whether it was something he gave all of his followers or only a select few, and what limitations the magic had. It was definitely something worth questioning Bellatrix about later.

- – -

Bellatrix swept into the room later than usual that night, a large stack of boxes being carried by a house elf behind her. "I had to go out to pick up some things and I decided that you needed some new clothes. Go ahead and try everything on, I want to make sure it fits you."

Harry eyed the woman cautiously, wondering if this was some sort of trick. When she didn't say anything else, he picked up a robe that had fallen out of a bag and examined it. He figured it must have been very expensive, the material was soft and silky and had detailed embroidery along the sleeves. He pulled the new robe on as she watched happily. It fit him perfectly.

Bellatrix smiled and clapped her hands, "Perfect! You look absolutely stunning. Finish trying everything else on, I'll be right back." She said sweetly and dashed into the hallway.

He laughed out loud when he noticed there wasn't a single shirt in the pile, just an abundance of tight dragonskin pants, luxurious robes, and shoes. He tried on everything, having to admit to himself that it was nice being spoiled like this though the motives behind her shopping spree were entirely obvious. Nearly everything was black with green or purple embellishments. After sorting through everything he discarded his old clothes, wearing a pair of the tight pants and a long, flowing hooded robe.

Checking out his new outfit in the mirror by the dresser, Harry pulled his hood up and nodded in satisfaction. These were the sort of things, in addition to some shirts, that he would have wanted to get at the beginning of the year and then have no use for at Hogwarts. Examining his reflection, he idly wondered if Bellatrix would consider a trip to Diagon Alley so Harry could get more piercings, preferably something more visible. He wasn't entirely sure why, but the concept of piercing skin with metal was incredibly appealing.

Bellatrix came back into the room moments later, a small man following behind. The man seemed quite terrified to be accompanied by such a frightening woman, and was wildly looking around the room as Bellatrix introduced them. His eyes finally landed on Harry and widened in shock.

"Harry, this is Darius. He is the finest wizard hairdresser in all of England and I brought him here to straighten out this mess of hair you have before I present you before the Dark Lord. Darius, this is Harry, my captive sex slave." Bellatrix laughed wildly as both men winced at Harry's title.

"You... you have Harry Potter! He is alive!" The tiny man exclaimed. "The entire Wizarding World thinks you are dead!"

"Hold on a second. What's this about presenting me to the Dark Lord? When exactly did we reach this decision?" Harry asked, crossing his arms stubbornly.

Bellatrix only shook her head. "Considering your two options are joining the Dark Lord or dying a slow, horrible death, I'd say your decision has already been made. And besides... we both know you want to."

Harry didn't quite know what to say to that. He was entirely aware of his only available options, plus he was incredibly curious about the strange shadow magic Bellatrix had used on him the night before- unique magic Voldemort would apparently be able to teach him. He silently sat in the chair Bellatrix summoned for him, frowning at the woman stubbornly.

Darius looked outraged. "You're supposed to be the Light's savior! You can not join the Dark Lord- you're supposed to defeat him!"

Bellatrix glared at the hairdresser. "Shut up and do your job. Impress me and I'll let you live."

Nodding nervously, Darius pulled a pair of enchanted shears from a side pouch. Raising the shears above his head, they hovered restlessly as he examined Harry's face. With a snap the shears started working, Darius's fingers somehow controlling their movements. After a few minutes, he stepped back and banished all of the hair on the ground as his scissors flew back into his pouch.

He hadn't taken off much length, it reached the top of Harry's neck and was very layered. His bangs grazed the top of his nose, and when he tried to push it behind his ears Bellatrix slapped his hand.

"I think it looks wonderful, _especially_ the bangs." She said, in more of a warning to Harry than anything. Harry ignored her and parted it down the middle so it mostly stayed out of his eyes.

"Yes, well... it should grow out nicely too. Would you please take me back to my shop now? I have quite a few appointments." Darius asked, wringing his hands as he eyed the door.

"I was thinking about keeping you on as our full-time hairdresser, but if his hair will grow out fine I suppose we won't need you anymore..." Bellatrix smiled evilly, "Well then, no hard feelings."

A sudden uncontrollable impulse overtook Harry. Whether it was one last wild attempt at escape or an outburst of rage and frustration over his impossible situation was beyond him as he quickly crossed the distance between himself and the hairdresser and pulled the magical shears from the man's pouch. The man cried in outrage as Harry lunged towards Bellatrix, holding the incredibly sharp shears like a dagger. Bellatrix cackled and jumped out of the way. Just as Harry was about to swing around at her, Darius grabbed his other arm. Moving instinctively, Harry turned and stabbed the man in the chest.

Bellatrix doubled over with laughter as Harry dropped the shears on the floor in shock. The man collapsed to the ground, blood quickly pooling around him. Harry watched the dying man with horrified fascination.

While he was distracted, Bellatrix scooped the scissors up from the floor and pocketed them in her voluminous dress. "That was incredibly stupid, kitten. Even if you did manage to kill me, what then? Do you even know where you are?"

Harry didn't respond as he continued watching the light dim from dying wizard's eyes. Bellatrix embraced him from behind, nuzzling her head in the crook of his neck as she whispered in his ear. "Well isn't this a special treat... he's dying right in front of us Harry. Did you know these last few moments before death are particularly vital?"

Straightening, she aimed her wand at the dying man, "His magic is splitting from his body and rejoining the wild magic. We can't just let him leave this peacefully, though..." She whispered.

Harry slowly turned his head to meet her eyes. Bellatrix grinned evilly and whispered an incantation that sent a strange dark mist gliding towards Darius.

The mist swam lazily through the air, a smoke-like mass that twisted and floated towards the terrified man as he pressed himself in a corner. Harry stepped closer, watching with fascination as it started to eat away at the air around Darius before moving to his flesh. The man screamed hoarsely as he started to disintegrate before their eyes, until nothing was left besides his robes and wand. Kneeling down, Harry touched the floor where the man was standing then looked back at Bellatrix.

"What is it, kitten? You look somewhat dazed." Bellatrix asked, walking over and pulling him to his feet.

Harry shook his head slowly, "I don't really know. I feel strange... all tingly and warm." He said and let out a soft sigh, whatever the feeling was, it was quite nice. Comparable to Bellatrix's _Crucios, _but without the underlying pain. He reached a hand up to touch his ear, which was aching softly.

Bellatrix looked at him curiously, then smiled widely. "I never did get around to explaining that ring you found in my aunt's jewelry box, did I? It's a very special and old piece of jewelry, one that's been passed down my family for generations. We've been waiting for the one that could wear it, but it has seriously burned anybody that tried until you. I know little about it, just that there is supposed to be a Dark God inside waiting for the inheritor of His powers." She said, mostly fishing for any more information Harry may have.

Harry nodded, gazing listlessly at the smoking patch on the floor. "Blaise Zabini has told me a little about it, but wanted to wait until I visited his estate to tell me more. Apparently his family is quite the authority on the lore behind it."

"Ah, I almost figured as much. If you behave yourself and stop trying to stab me with scissors I'm sure we could arrange a visit soon."

Harry shrugged, now feeling quite embarrassed over his spectacular failure. "It was too good of an opportunity to pass up, you can't blame me for trying. Is Blaise's mother affiliated with the Dark Lord?"

"Not yet." She smirked mischievously and slid her dress off before pushing Harry backwards onto the bed.

- – -

A small group of men and women robed in black stood in a circle in the middle of a cold, damp room and talked quietly amongst themselves. The wide doors leading to the room flung open and the group quickly dropped to their knees as Lord Voldemort strode in. Glancing at those present, he addressed Bellatrix.

"What news do you have of our guest?" He asked, red eyes glowing under his hood.

Bellatrix stood and bowed deeply at his feet, "Even better than I hoped, my Lord. It seems as though the ring has made him fascinated by Dark Magic. I used a Corruption Curse on a wizard in front of him and he was absolutely entranced by it. I'd imagine he's eager to try casting it himself." She paused to grin madly. "I'd daresay the latent Dark magic surrounding him is on par with your average Death Eater, and he still hasn't yet reached magical maturity."

Voldemort nodded, "How long will it take to convince him to submit to me?"

"I don't know for sure, my Lord, but I would imagine any day now. I have been tempting him by demonstrating the shadow magic you have granted me. He is... most receptive to it."

"That is satisfactory. This will continue to be your main goal for the time being. Wait until he is the one that makes the decision to come to me, take your time ad do not make him feel pressured to do so. I want his loyalty to be absolute." Voldemort said before turning the subject to other matters


	7. Chapter 7- Solace In Darkness

Alright, I'm trying to get updates out every week or so but there will be no real set schedule. I work fulltime and only write when I'm home alone, so I don't always have a lot of time. Anyways... this is probably my favorite chapter so far.

Bitumen

Chapter Seven- Solace In Darkness

- – -

Harry lay on his side on the bed as Bellatrix slowly carded her fingers through his hair, her nails occasionally tapping on his earring. He had been imprisoned for about a week but it felt much longer. While at first he was quite excited by the large selection of books covering the Dark Arts, there was only so much he could read about without being able to try casting anything. Just reading about all of the new spells and rituals made him feel even more restless, itching to try one out. They were barely more than a teasing reminder of how truly powerless he was without his wand.

"What are you thinking about, Kitten?" Bellatrix asked as she lay her head on his bare chest. The two were lounging on her bed. Bellatrix's long curled black hair was splayed out around her, covering Harry like soft perfumed blanket.

"Nothing really, my mind was just wandering." Harry answered and shifted so the woman was positioned more comfortably on him, "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know, you just seem deep in thought."

"Yeah, I guess. Bellatrix... how long have I been here now?"

"Hmmm, a week and three days or so. Why?"

"I was just wondering, it feels like I've been here for ages... do you know how much longer I'm going to be here?" Harry asked.

"I haven't the slightest idea, as that decision is entirely up to you. Why, do you want to leave?" Bellatrix sat up, her voice slightly angry.

"A little, yes." Harry said, wincing at the anger flaring up in Bellatrix's eyes. "What do you mean that-"

"So my room isn't good enough for Harry Potter now? Are all of your fancy new clothes not to your liking? Or do you just want to go find some whore to share your bed?" She yelled, climbing out of the bed and glaring down at the startled teenager.

"No, well not really. I'm just so bored and lonely when you're gone for the day."

Bellatrix frowned and cocked her head to the side. "You certainly are a strange one, kitten. Only a few days ago I was torturing you, and now here you are trying to make me feel better."

Harry paused, the woman had a point. Bellatrix had somehow grown on him during the time he had spent with her. The woman's mind was deliciously twisted from her time spent in Azkaban, almost making her return to a childlike state of mind at times. He had come to enjoy her violent and hateful rants about her day as she played with his hair. He almost felt bad about trying to kill her with scissors, until he remembered Sirius.

He could tolerate her for the time being, fuck her even, but he would still get his revenge for his godfather when the time was right. Until then he was sure she would continue to have her uses.

He held his arms out to the woman. "I suppose you've grown on me. Now come back over here."

Bellatrix rolled onto the bed and smiled mischievously, "I'm not that surprised, I am the best lay you've ever had."

"And the only one, so that doesn't count for much." Harry snorted.

"That doesn't matter, I'm still the best." Bellatrix retorted and, as if to prove her point, reached her hand into his pants. Harry grinned and rolled away from her.

"Is that all you ever think about?" He asked.

Bellatrix rolled her eyes, "You know, most boys your age would kill for a woman like me."

"Right, but I like to make you work for it." Harry answered.

"Yes, yes of course. Are you sure you're not gay, my little kitten?"

"Hmm, only partially. I'd call myself more... 'opportunistic' than anything, I suppose." Harry mused as Bellatrix lay her head on his lap with a sigh.

"And yet here I am right now, being an opportunity, and you're not doing a thing." She said with a pout.

"Yes, but we're having a discussion right now." Harry said tauntingly.

"Oh well I can fix that!" Bellatrix sat up and pulled him onto her lap. Harry wrestled against her grip to get free, but involuntarily relaxed when she started to comb her fingers through his hair. "You really are like my own pet kitten. You're so sweet and adorable-looking, but you hate to be held unless it's on your own terms."

"A cat? Really? Couldn't I be something more manly?" Harry frowned.

"Oh no, a cat perfectly suits you. You're not some big brawny idiot, you're an attractive and intellectual young man with a very stubborn streak."

Harry grinned mischievously, "Well then if I'm a cat I should probably be all cuddly, right?" He asked and nuzzled his face against her cheek before trailing kisses up her neck until he reached her lips. He slowly removed her robes as she gave him an annoyed look.

"Ugh don't be so sweet, it's such a turn off... And what exactly brought this on? I thought we were having a discussion." She asked, and Harry shrugged as he carefully undid the buttons on the back of her dress.

"I guess this is more interesting than that conversation became." He said and slipped Bellatrix's dress off of her.

Harry laughed and stood to retrieve his clothes. "You're really fucked up, you know that? Do you get off thinking of me as your pet cat?"

Bellatrix lazily stretched her arms above her head. "Maybe I just like how much you dislike it."

Harry merely scoffed as she stood and pushed past him into the bathroom. A moment later Harry heard the shower turn on. He walked over to the open bathroom door and leaned against the wall. Hot steam already poured out of the room, the water enchanted to immediately reach scalding temperatures.

"You made a good point earlier... about how casting Dark spells would probably affect me... I am curious to try, you know." He said in a quiet, thoughtful voice.

Bellatrix shot her head out of the magical barrier holding back the water and grinned. "I'm only allowed to give you your wand back if you swear to take the Dark Mark. That's the only way you can leave this room alive."

"Understandable, I suppose... and if I take the Mark I can learn that shadow magic you've been using?"

"Of course! Well- I mean probably. You have to earn it. Our Lord created the magic specifically for his favorite followers." Bellatrix replied from within the shower.

"And how do I know he won't just execute me in front of a large crowd or something?"

Bellatrix laughed, "Oh, that was his original plan, but now he's quite fixed on the idea of having you join him and rubbing it Dumbledore's face. Besides if he was planning on killing you what would have been the point in keeping you here with me?"

"So there was a point in keeping me here locked up with you?" Harry asked, his tone teasing.

"Are you trying to hurt my feelings?" Bellatrix whined and peered out from behind the water barrier. "He really is quite eager to have you. You really should consider it, pet. You'd make it to the Inner Circle with ease."

"And does he know about this potential godlike power of mine? I'd imagine you would have mentioned something about my ring to him."

"Obviously..." Bellatrix replied, her voice slightly muffled behind the barrier of water.

"Well what did he say about it?"

"Mmm, not much. Though I'd imagine he is quite curious. Our Lord loves new toys... especially big shiny ones. You can easily use this to get on his good side. Just... be careful. He won't tolerate any threats to his power."

"Noted... well there is something I would like to try before I make any sort of decision." Harry said quietly.

"And what's that?" Bellatrix asked, stepping out of the shower.

"Before I go signing my life away, I'd like to at least see what I'm getting myself into. Let me borrow your wand and show me how to cast something Dark."

Bellatrix frowned. "I've never let anybody use my wand before."

"It's for a good enough cause, isn't it? Let me use it for just one spell and then there's a good chance I will take up the Dark Lord's offer, seeing as how that's really my only option anyway. I imagine he's offered you a nice reward for making me convert, isn't there? Just let me use your wand one time and you can have it." Harry said softly.

Bellatrix walked out of the bathroom and put her dress and robes back on. She considered her wand for a moment before handing it to Harry. "Alright, you may use it for one spell. But remember, it's not going to work as well as your own wand would, so anything you might get from it won't be as strong."

Harry nodded eagerly and examined the wand. This was a perfect opportunity- much better than a few days ago with the scissors as Bellatrix was now totally unarmed and defenseless. It would be far too easy to kill her and escape his prison. The only downside was the very point she had brought up. This could be Voldemort's headquarters and crawling with Death Eaters, or it could be Bellatrix's presumably heavily-warded personal home. He knew it would be far too big of a gamble and he could escape later, once he convinced her to let him out and give him back his wand. Besides, his curiosity was overwhelming.

"You are way too trusting, you know that right?" Harry said teasingly, fingering her wand delicately.

"I believe we established that you would have to be a complete fool to go blindly running out of this room without knowing where you are, though it's quite cute of you to think that would work. Alright kitten, do you need some help using a spell? You don't have any experience with Dark magic, do you?" Bellatrix asked, embracing him from behind and wrapping her arms around his waist.

"I've never used a Dark spell, other than _Crucio as I'm sure you remember_. I take it that it's entirely different from your average Hogwarts spell?" Harry drawled.

"Of course. With a Dark spell you have to truly mean it. You need to look deep inside of you and find that ball of Dark magic I know you have somewhere in you." She said, her voice a seductive whisper in his ear. Harry nodded and closed his eyes. "You need to focus on your magic. In time this won't be necessary and it will happen automatically, but for now you need to find it. Focus on your anger, your hatred and frustrations. Feel the urge to truly hurt somebody, to destroy their mind and body."

Harry focused on the anger he had towards his old friends, the Dursleys, and various other things he had experienced. He visualized using his magic to hurt them and make them never bother him again. The Darkness filled him immediately, seemingly eager to be unleashed. It felt like a physical entity enveloping him in a dark cloud. After a moment he nodded.

"Mmm... very good. Now I need you to repeat after me, keeping that feeling inside of you. Aim at the dresser and say _Resattero_." Bellatrix murmured as she nibbled on his ear.

Harry took a shaky breath before pointing the wand at the dresser across the room, then yelled "_Resattero_!".

The spell created a thunderous boom as it sent a huge shock wave at the dresser, destroying everything in its path. The dresser he had targeted was a large black mark on the now-crumbling floor, as was the bed. The ceiling had caved in partially and the wall the dresser had been against was mostly demolished.

Harry swayed on his feet, his mind spinning from the power that had rushed out of him. Immense pleasure washed over him as he examined the wreckage surrounding them, filling him with a feeling of utter rightness. A wide grin slowly spread on his face as Bellatrix clutched onto his arm, laughing hysterically.

"Now now, kitten, that spell was meant for the dresser, not for the entire room. Just look at the mess you've made!" She chided.

Harry turned towards her and shoved her against a part of the wall that was still standing. Pressing his body tight against her, he nearly purred as he murmured into her ear, "So have I been a bad kitty, Bellatrix?"

"Mmmmm yes, very much so. I'm going to have to punish you." She answered and struggled to get away, but Harry held her tight against the wall.

"I don't think so." Harry growled and reached his hand up her dress. Bellatrix moaned and pushed his pants and boxers down as his fingers worked their way inside of her. Harry removed his hand and slowly licked his fingers as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Using his body and the wall to hold her up, Harry pushed back her dress and roughly slammed himself into her. Bellatrix let out a strangled yell as she clawed at his bare back, her head scraping on the rough stone wall while he ferociously pounded into her.

- – -

Lucius Malfoy just happened to be walking down a hallway in the east wing of Riddle Manor when he heard a massive explosion. Pulling out his wand, he headed the direction of the sound. A few corridors down he ran into Severus, who was headed in the same direction.

"Do you know what that noise was?" Lucius asked as they briskly walked towards where it had come from.

Severus shook his head and sighed dramatically, "It seems like it came from Bellatrix's room. I can't even imagine what could have happened in there."

Lucius nodded and they continued towards the sound of the explosion. Levitating the massive parts of the walls lying on the floor away, they turned the corner and stared in amazement at the devastated remains of Bellatrix's room.

"Oh my..." Was all Lucius managed to get out as he examined the scene through a gaping hole in the wall. Heavy stone that had composed the ceiling and wall was scattered around the room, splintered pieces of wood spread throughout the wreckage. The most shocking sight however, was against a wall further back in the room. Bellatrix had her legs wrapped around the Potter boy's waist as they both moaned wildly, her dress hitched up and his pants around his ankles.

Malfoy and Severus stared at the two in shock before cautiously stepping into what was left of the room. Severus walked over to them and cleared his throat. Bellatrix looked up in surprise and a slight blush spread across her face. Harry smirked, still basking in the remnants of Dark magic radiating off of him.

"Did you need something?" He asked with a smirk as Bellatrix slid off of him. She hurriedly put her dress back on as Harry watched the two. The two men could feel the raw power rolling off of him.

Severus narrowed his eyes. "Well first of all, I'd like for you to put some clothes on." He said and waited until Harry pulled his boxers and pants up. "We were just investigating the large explosion we heard. May I ask what exactly happened?"

"Bellatrix let me use her wand so I could see if the Dark Arts suited me." He looked around and smiled darkly, "They do."

Lucius stepped forward eagerly, a somewhat lustful look in his eyes. "Yes, we can most certainly see that." He turned towards Severus, "Shall we inform the Dark Lord now?"

"Oh yes Harry, you're going to join us now, aren't you?" Bellatrix asked, clinging onto his arm.

Harry frowned slightly, "I really shouldn't rush into this, Bellatrix. It's a life-changing decision... I'd have to forever give up the option of being the Light's mascot." He said with a dark laugh and crossed the room to put on one of the few robes he didn't keep in the now demolished dresser. A fine trail of black mist similar to the sort of spells he was so fascinated by left faint tracers in the air behind him.

"I'm glad to see your sense of humor hasn't left you." Severus said dryly.

"I suppose meeting with the Dark Lord and perhaps working out some sort of deal wouldn't do any harm. Is he here?" Harry asked, ignoring Severus' comment as he pulled his hood up and fastened the robe's silver buckles.

"Yes, but you shouldn't just walk into his office, we need to schedule a meeting." Lucius replied, noting in awe that the boy's eyes seemed to glow faintly under the hood.

Harry smirked and headed towards the debris-covered hallway. "I think he would make an exception for me, don't you?"

Lucius and Severus exchanged an unsure glance while Bellatrix hurriedly caught up with Harry. Pointing him in the right direction, the two strode down the hallway, misty Dark magic trailing after Harry's feet.

Harry was drunk with power. An indescribable sensation flowed through and around him, making him feel totally indestructible. He felt attached to everything- the cool air of the hallway brushing against his face, the roughness of the stone floor under his feet, even the soft breathing of the three people walking alongside him. Closing his eyes, he could feel the turns of the hall before they reached them. An overwhelmingly intoxicating Dark aura was wafting through the air, growing progressively stronger as they walked through the hall. Harry instinctively stopped outside of a door where the smell seemed to pour out of the crack between it and the ground. He had to hold back the urge to press himself against the wood grain to get as close as he could to the source of the delicious aura.

"This is his office, though I'm not sure if he's here." Lucius said, his refined voice sounding somewhat fearful.

"Oh, he is. I can feel him." Harry said in a low voice. Lucius gave him an odd look before knocking firmly on the door. After a pause the door silently opened. Harry's fingers flexed in anticipation as Lucius, Bellatrix and Severus entered the office before him.

As he passed the threshold the sensation hit him like a massive wave. Invisible hands seemed to lightly brush his face and pluck at his robe in an attempt to compel him forward. He briefly examined the room before zeroing his attention in on the figure behind a desk.

The office was small and rectangular, a deep brown leather couch against the left wall and a large pale blond wood desk to the right. Tall bookshelves covered the wall facing the door, each shelf filled with a wide assortment of books. Sitting at the massive desk was Voldemort, who was staring past the other three to focus singularly on Harry.

A triumphant look touched the Dark Lord's face as his red eyes glinted dangerously against pale white skin. Faint traces of human-like features seemed to be merging with the strange snake resemblance Harry had witnessed the previous summer. The nose still remained flattened and the eyes were narrowed slits, but the new addition of pale eyebrows, lips and hair added a certain handsomeness to the otherwise serpentine man. Despite the shoulder length silvery-white hair, he only looked to be in his early thirties. Harry absently wondered if the man had a forked tongue.

"Harry Potter... what a surprise." Voldemort said, pushing some paperwork to the side as he leaned forward. "What brings you here?"

Harry stepped in front of the three Death Eaters, briefly closing his eyes as the Darkness caressed his face. "I was hoping to speak with you."

"Mm, yes. I had been anticipating a visit from you. Please, do continue."

"Well... Bellatrix showed me the power you grant some of your followers. She said you created it and teach it to your favorites. I want it." Harry said, his demanding tone surprising the Dark Lord.

"That will depend on your ability to control it." Voldemort replied flippantly, his magic seductively wrapping around Harry. "I will require absolute loyalty from you first, of course."

"I'm not very comfortable with being another one of your groveling servants..." Harry said, boldly stepping closer to the desk. "I'd say that given who I am and the advantage I could give you in the war, I would deserve a position that didn't require that from me, wouldn't you?"

Voldemort's eyes flashed dangerously. "I expect complete respect and devotion from my Death Eaters. This is non-negotiable. However, I do understand you have... come upon a rather unique ability. Tell me what you know."

Harry paused, grasping for the appropriate words. "Well... I suppose I have developed a tendency towards the Dark Arts. I have reason to believe it's attributed to a certain ring I found, an old Black heirloom I found this past summer. Ever since I pierced my ear with it I haven't been able to remove it, not that I've had much interest in doing so. I've been told that it's likely an ancient artifact housing the spirit of the god Olethros, though I haven't seen much evidence of any other 'being' in my mind."

"Tell me more about this tendency towards the Dark Arts." Voldemort commanded.

"Well I haven't really had an opportunity to try it out-" Harry was interrupted by Lucius loudly clearing his throat. Voldemort glanced at the Death Eater irritably and nodded.

"If I may, my Lord. The four of us have just returned from Bellatrix's quarters. It seems she lent Potter her wand and he managed to destroy the majority of her room."

Voldemort returned his eyes to Harry, eying him with a hungry curiosity. "Is that so? Using which spells?"

"Just one. Resattero."

"I see. The matter-destroying spell... And was this your first time using Dark magic? I can't imagine you had the opportunity to experiment at Hogwarts."

Harry nodded, a faint confident smirk crossing his face as he felt Voldemort's magic tighten its grip around him.

Voldemort stared deep into Harry's eyes and waved his right hand. "You three are dismissed."

Bellatrix huffed slightly under her breath as the three quickly left the room. As soon as Lucius closed the door behind him Voldemort stood and circled around his desk. The pressure of the Dark Lord's aura was nearly suffocating, smothering but immensely pleasurable.

"I must admit I find myself wondering why I shouldn't just kill you now before you become a more pressing threat." Voldemort murmured as he stopped in front of Harry and trailed a thumb across the younger wizard's jaw. Jolts of electric pleasure ran under his skin, sharpening his mind as the Dark magic merged into his own.

Harry met the Dark Lord's eyes confidently. "Because I need you. I'm looking for a teacher and you're by far the best candidate. Take me under your wing and I'll fight for you in this upcoming war... I do assume there will be a war, yes?"

Voldemort pulled back and smirked. "Do I sense a hint of bloodlust?"

Harry grinned and turned so he could lean against the desk. "I have power and I want to use it. Joining you gives me the perfect opportunity to get in some practice."

"And after the war?"

"Well, I suppose that's up to you." Harry shrugged and folded his arms.

"Good answer." Voldemort said dryly. "I would like to continue this conversation but I suppose you should know that you have a dangerous amount of magic rushing out of your core. Your proximity to me is keeping you conscious for now as you feed off of my ambient magic, but I'd imagine you will be feeling somewhat lightheaded shortly."

"What? Why?"

"I assume Bellatrix showed you how to tap into your Dark magic without taking into account the amount pent up in you. You annihilated the dam holding your power back and now it's freely pouring out of you. I must admit I'm impressed by how long you're remaining upright."

"Well is it serious? Can you do something?" Harry asked nervously.

"Of course." Voldemort crossed the small room to sit on the brown leather sofa and patted the open space beside him. "Don't be shy."

Frowning, Harry sat beside him, a sudden wave of exhaustion overcoming him as he moved. Voldemort leaned in close, placing his hands on Harry's temples as he stared deeply into the younger wizard's bright green eyes. The Dark Lord smoothly slipped into Harry's mind, a powerful shadow ghosting over his thoughts as it moved deeper into him. Dark fingers seemed to brush at his very essence, making him gasp aloud as they gracefully prodded at a small gap. Voldemort's presence easily smoothed over the hole, leaving behind a thick patch where the gap used to be. The cool pale hands fell from Harry's temples and the force in his mind departed.

Harry eyed the Dark Lord curiously. "What was that called? Whatever you just did."

"It's a specialized offshoot of Legilimency." Voldemort settled back in the sofa, watching Harry with a somewhat strange expression.

"Ah, alright. And did you... um, well you didn't happen to come across anything strange in there, did you? Say for instance... an ancient god?" Harry felt embarrassed to even ask.

"Hm, no. Though I would have to look much deeper and more thoroughly for something like that if it wasn't already jumping to the surface."

Harry frowned and nodded, looking down at his hands thoughtfully. Voldemort suddenly leaned in close and brushed back Harry's hair. A cool finger traced the shell of his ear and tapped on the metal ring.

_/Where exactly did you get this, Harry?/_ Voldemort hissed softly, the Parseltongue sending a shiver down Harry's spine.

_/At twel- twe... Grim... The Order Headquarters./_ Harry stumbled out, the _Fidelius_ charm preventing him from saying the address.

_/How strange, Bellatrix informed me the ring was one of Walburga's possessions, and you somehow managed to get your hands on it./ _Voldemort said.

_/Well it probably was, I got it out of her jewelry box./ _Harry offered.

Voldemort's eyes flashed with comprehension. _/Her jewelry box... At The Order headquarters./ _

Harry nodded and Voldemort grinned smugly. _/I see. You've already provided a great deal of help./_

_/So you know what the ring is? And Olethros?/ _Harry asked.

_/Yes, but I must admit I am not entirely familiar with the legend. From what I understand, a Godlike power was hidden away in that ring and you are the first to be able to unlock it./ _Voldemort said.

_/That's what I've been told./_ Harry answered. /_I was supposed to learn more about it this summer from the Zabini's. But as far as I know, I haven't actually unlocked the full extent of my powers./_

Voldemort studied the young man before switching back to English. "I will mark you during the next Death Eater gathering tomorrow night. I would like to test your loyalty towards me though. I want to know that you really support my ideals."

"Honestly I don't care that much about politics. I just want to learn the Dark Arts." Harry shrugged

"And what exactly do you know of Dark magic theory?"

Harry paused, somewhat caught off guard by the question. "Not much, in practice anyway. I've read some books on it- Bellatrix had a few in her room. But they were mostly just spells and rituals, nothing too entirely useful without a wand or supplies. Though Snape did give me a very quick summary one time..."

Voldemort nodded for him to continue.

"Well, it was something along the lines of how Dark and Light magic are entirely different things. Apparently some wizards aren't even capable of casting one or the other. That's about all he would tell me though."

"So you do not know where Dark magic originates? Or how it affects the caster?"

Harry shook his head in embarrassment. "I've never really had access to that sort of information."

Voldemort sat quietly for a short moment, internally delighted by the plan forming in his mind. He had beside him an incredibly powerful Dark wizard just waiting to be molded to suit his needs. The fact that it was also The-Boy-Who-Lived was certainly a bonus as well, provided they unveiled Harry's allegiance with the right timing. The fact that Harry seemed to be entirely motivated by his thirst for learning the Dark Arts, something Voldemort had vast knowledge of, would make him easy to control. Probably with little additional manipulation. This strange concept of a Dark god being locked away in Harry's ring made him wary, but the opportunity was just too perfect.

"I have decided that, given your impressive ability with Dark magic, it would be most prudent to personally oversee your education from now on. I will find a series of teachers for you and we will arrange regular meetings to view your progress. You will be my... apprentice of sorts." Voldemort announced, noting with satisfaction the quick look of both excitement and apprehension crossing Harry's eyes. "Though I must ask. What are your feelings on the methods necessary to master your Dark magic? Are you capable of taking many lives, mostly muggle but also wizard, in order to achieve greatness?"

Harry seemed to be somewhat stunned by the Dark Lord's decision, but only hesitated a moment before answering. "I suppose I'll do whatever it takes... I'll need to have various test subjects for my new spells after all."

Voldemort considered him for a moment before fondly stroking Harry's jaw with his thumb. "I believe we are going to get along just fine."


	8. Chapter 8- The Beginning and the End

Alright, and now _this_ is my favorite chapter. I feel the need to point out that the Voldemort in this story is different from pretty much any common portrayal of him, personality-wise.

Bitumen

Chapter Eight- The Beginning and The End

Voldemort smiled smugly as he watched Harry. Everything was going even better than he had planned. Ever since that night at the Ministry he had known the boy would come to him eventually, but never would have imagined he would be so powerful and so willing.

His fast but thorough examination of Harry's mind hadn't proved to be as informative as he had hoped. Though he had brushed off Harry's question regarding the presence of any sort of ancient god, the entire lack of anything particularly abnormal was perplexing. It was a given that something had to have occurred to change Harry's previously Gryffindor disposition. Far too many independent sources had contacted him over the past few months reporting this change and now meeting the boy in person left no doubt in his mind. Harry Potter was a Dark wizard.

He ran his red eyes lazily over Harry's frame, finding himself wishing the boy was a few years older. Harry wasn't even 16, but the Dark Lord was always attracted to powerful things regardless of their packaging. He knew Bellatrix had ensured the boy was no longer a virgin but the thought of bedding a mere child left a bad taste in his mouth. It would be tiresome, but he would wait before claiming Harry entirely. But that didn't mean he couldn't play.

"As I was saying, I will require a test of loyalty from you." He said, sitting elegantly next to Harry on the sofa.

Harry combed his fingers through his hair, the Dark Lord's proximity making him somewhat anxious. "I thought taking the Dark Mark would be enough."

"Hardly. Though I'd imagine you may enjoy this particular test. I believe you were raised by your aunt and uncle, yes? I do hope you weren't too close to them."

Harry gave him a puzzled look. "No, not at all. Why?"

"Well you have already shown me your capability to torture during the Ministry raid, and you say you are willing to kill, but I must be certain of your capability for it."

"So... you want me to kill my aunt and uncle?" Harry asked, grinning excitedly despite himself.

Voldemort shook his head and shifted closer to Harry. Harry shivered slightly when shoulder length hair brushed his cheek as Voldemort leaned into him and whispered darkly into his ear. "I don't want you to just kill them, Harry. I want you to destroy them, and everything they stood for in your life. They were the ones meant to protect you from me, they were your caretakers and your stand-in parents."

Harry interrupted him with a snort, "They didn't do any of that."

"Then by destroying them you will symbolically destroy everything you depended on in the past. Your life as Harry James Potter, The Boy-Who-Lived, will come to an end. Only then can you be reborn."

Harry nodded. "You don't need to convince me to do it, I already hate them. They treated me like a house elf for most of my life, like some sort of sub-human lifeform that didn't deserve any of the privileges they had. They're the worst kind of muggle, they're ignorant and emotionally abused a child just because he was different from them. I would be more than happy to be the cause of their deaths."

"Yes I can imagine you would hate them, but wanting to kill and actually doing it are two different things. You may feel as though you can until the moment comes, and then find yourself unable to do so. Taking a human life, muggle or not, is something not everybody can do." Voldemort sniffed, pulling back with an air of indifference.

Harry glared indignantly. "I have killed somebody already! I'm surprised Bellatrix didn't tell you. She brought in some hairdresser a while back and I ended up killing him."

Voldemort's lips pressed together as he narrowed his eyes. "Hm, yes I did hear something about that. From what I understand she was the one that killed him."

"Well he would have died anyway if she didn't interfere." He replied stubbornly.

"Is that so? Why don't you tell me what exactly happened?"

"Ah, well... I took the man's shears and..." He hesitated, not exactly wanting to admit that he attempted to kill one of the Dark Lord's followers. "Er, I tried to attack Bellatrix with them."

"And why in the world would you do a thing like that? Did you really expect to be able to escape with your life?" Voldemort sneered.

"No. Well, I didn't really think about it. I just saw an opportunity and jumped on it. But she jumped out of the way and I ended up stabbing the man in the chest. Bellatrix only cast that curse at him as he was dying on the floor..." He trailed off, the memory of the event making him feel strangely gleeful. After a moment he glanced up to see the Dark Lord studying him closely.

"All the same, there is a difference between murdering a stranger and your family." Voldemort stated and eyed Harry smugly.

Harry stood up. "Alright. Give me my wand and a way to get there and I'll do it."

Voldemort crossed the room and pulled Harry's wand from a compartment in his desk. "I suppose you can be trusted with this now, but I won't be giving it to you until you leave all the same. I'd rather keep your identity a secret for the time being, so I've assigned the only three Death Eaters that know who you are to come along- Bellatrix, Lucius and Severus."

"I'd rather do this myself, if it's all the same to you. And I don't want anything to do with Snape. I don't trust him." Harry said.

Voldemort put the wand on his desk and walked back towards Harry, a dangerous look glinting in his eyes as he looked down at the young wizard. "You do know who you're talking to? As powerful as you may someday become- if you survive long enough, you're far too bold for somebody so completely unarmed. I have my reasons for assigning those three to the task, and it is far outside of your rights to defy me."

Harry frowned in irritation. This was precisely why he was so hesitant to become a Death Eater. "Alright. But you said before that I am incapable of safely casting Dark spells. Do you want me to get creative with Light magic or stab them or what?"

"Don't be stupid, child. I am going to teach you right now before the others arrive to accompany you to your aunt and uncle's home. The marking ceremony is tomorrow and I have other matters to attend to, so we will finish this quickly."

Harry nodded and sat back down on the sofa. Voldemort crossed the small room to join him. "Ordinarily, tapping into any latent Dark abilities shouldn't be such an ordeal, but seeing as how you came across a massive amount buried inside of you and have no experience with it, we must proceed with some caution."

"But wouldn't I have less than earlier? You said it was all pouring out of me, so it might all be gone now."

Voldemort laughed at the idea. "Hardly. Magic isn't something that just disappears, it replenishes on its own quickly enough. It is just energy afterall, and energy can never be created or destroyed. Honestly, didn't you learn anything about magical theory at that school?" He asked. Harry shook his head, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

"Hmph, the standards of education have really dropped since I was there." He continued, "But the reason why it probably felt like you were swimming through a cloud of darkness was because your Dark magic was corrupting the Neutral magic in the air around you, and because you are much more sensitive to magic when that much is manifesting outside of your body."

"Wait, wait. You're starting to lose me. What do you mean about Neutral magic in the air?" Harry hesitantly interrupted.

Voldemort sighed irritably. "You mean to say that Hogwarts no longer even teaches the Three Fundamental Types of Magic? Such a shame. If we weren't pressed for time I would go into more detail, so remind me to explain it later. As I was saying, you were feeling your own Dark magic surrounding you, and the strongest source of it in this building- my own. Now I need you to call back on the memory of last night. What exactly were you feeling immediately after casting that spell?"

Harry blushed slightly. "Well, it's hard to describe. I just felt... good. My whole body was tingling and my senses were sharper. I felt indestructible and it was like... like I wasn't just limited to my body, but was a part of everything around me. I'm sure that makes no sense."

A faint smile touched Voldemort's lips. "On the contrary. Any Dark wizard would identify perfectly with that description. That feeling of Expansion- when your consciousness mixes with the magic around you, is something we all actively pursue. With enough practice you can even summon the state of mind at will. It is incredibly helpful in battle and is the reason why so many Dark wizards are known for their fast reflexes."

Voldemort noted the sudden look of excitement in Harry's eyes. Unable to restrain himself, he lightly stroked Harry's cheek. A sudden frustrating burst of lust filled him when he saw the boy shiver under his touch. Flicking his eyes down Harry's frame, he idly wondered exactly how far Bellatrix had gone with him. He made a mental note to peruse her mind later.

"In time I can help you achieve that feeling again, Harry." He murmured. "It naturally occurs when you surround yourself with enough Dark magic, but I can teach you to be able to summon it at will. Would you like that?"

Harry nodded weakly. The small amount of Dark magic Voldemort was projecting from his fingertips made his head spin.

"Unfortunately for now we must stick to spellcasting. This is a simple enough exercise to train your mind how to control the power of your spells. Doing this once or twice should be enough to make it automatic. Close you eyes again. Focus on the feeling, the need to have that power fill you. Rekindle the infinite darkness and grab hold of a small portion." He murmured in Harry's ear.

Harry closed his eyes and tried to follow the Dark Lord's directions. The Darkness easily sprang into his mental vision- a fuzzy black wall eclipsing all thought and feeling. He studied it with fascination for a moment, forcing his mind to calm down until the furious black mass settled to form a perfectly smooth black sphere.

He apprehensively reached out towards it, visualizing his hand reaching out to touch the surface. He trailed a finger down the side and a tiny pebble of the mass pooled onto his fingertip. Pinching the darkness between his fingers, he examined it closely. The substance was inky black, oily and surprisingly supple.

"Isn't it beautiful?" A soft, seductive voice whispered, echoing through Harry's conciseness and flaring the small spark into a tiny smoldering star. Harry nodded, not entirely sure if the voice came from Voldemort or somewhere deeper still.

"I... I have it." He said tentatively.

"Very good." The Dark Lord said calmly. "Now hold tightly onto that little piece and open your eyes."

Harry slowly opened his eyes, still feeling the darkness smoldering inside of him. Voldemort pressed Harry's wand into his hand. "I took the liberty of removing the Ministry's underage tracking ward on your wand. Now clear your mind of everything the best you can, but hold onto that sliver of emotion as you cast the spell Bellatrix showed you earlier."

Taking a deep breath, Harry stood and aimed his wand at a landscape painting to his left. "Resattero!"

There was a bang and the shattering sound of glass as the spell burned a hole through the center of the painting. He sighed in frustration and looked up at the Dark Lord, worried the man would reject him for not being able to cast the spell nearly as powerfully again. He knew it wasn't supposed to be as huge of an explosion but the outcome was incredibly disappointing nevertheless.

"That was very impressive, Harry." Voldemort said, placing a hand on the his shoulder. "Not only do you have the ability to cast powerful spells, but now you've proved you're able to control them."

"But that barely did anything. And I don't feel that... what did you call it before? Expansion?" Harry said with a frown.

Voldemort shook his head, "That does not happen so easily. You only reached an Expanded state before because of all of the Dark magic you had released into the space around you. This was the point- you already have the power and will be able to tap into it safely after you master your control." He smiled softly and lifted the boy's chin up with his fingertips, "For now we will only be focusing on general Dark spellcasting. Though I would imagine it will not take long for you to be ready to move on to the more... entertaining side of the Dark Arts. You are quite talented."

"Thanks..." Harry said, a little confused. He had never imagined the Dark Lord would be this nice.

Voldemort nodded and stood up. "Your training will continue as soon as possible, but you still need to take care of your relatives." He strode over to his large desk and wrote a short note. Pulling out his wand, he cast a charm that made the piece of paper fly out of the room and into the hallway. "I sent a note to the three accompanying you on this raid, they should be here soon."

"Alright." Harry said and looked down at his wand. It had been far too long since he had last held it, and he closely inspected it for any scratches.

There was a sudden knock on the door, scarcely a minute after the messages had been sent. Voldemort sighed. "That would probably be Bellatrix."

Voldemort opened the door with a wave of his wand. Bellatrix rushed into the room, only pausing to bow respectfully to Voldemort before grinning madly at Harry. Lifting him off of the sofa, she embraced him and placed a kiss on his forehead. "I knew you'd decide to join us in the end, little kitten!"

Harry smiled weakly at the enthusiastic woman, then saw the other two enter the room. Severus threw him a quick disdainful glance, but Lucius strode towards him.

"I must admit that I had my doubts regarding the truthfulness of my son's reports, but that was a remarkable display of power earlier. I look forward to having you amongst our ranks." He said formally and offered his hand.

Harry accepted the handshake and grinned cockily. "You haven't seen anything yet."

Lucius nodded coolly, a glimmer of excitement in his eyes. "I must admit I'm looking forward to witnessing this test of your new found loyalty."

Bellatrix cackled gleefully, wrapping her arms around Harry. "And if you don't pass, maybe I'll still be able to kill you after all!"

Severus sniffed impatiently from the back of the room. "If we are finished here, I do believe our Lord is waiting."

Voldemort had sat again during the short conversation, slowly tapping his long pale fingers on the sofa's armrest as he watched Harry intently. The young man exuded an impressive amount of confidence for one suddenly so abruptly thrown into an office with three high-ranking Death Eaters and the Dark Lord himself. He couldn't help but notice the sexual energy Bellatrix was giving off towards Harry. He really did need to have a conversation with her regarding the nature of their relationship.

Voldemort stood smoothly and flicked his wand. A magnificent stone fireplace burst into place where the sofa had sat. An impressively realistic carving of a snake stretched across the top as the mantle, a generous bag of Floo Powder sitting on top.

"You have Floo set up in here?" Harry asked incredulously.

Voldemort sneered. "I'm not on the regular Floo Network, of course. I have a one-way connection to a house hidden in the mountains of Albania. You can take this there and then apparate to your relative's neighborhood." He explained as he passed Lucius the Floo Powder. The three Death Eaters left immediately. Harry took a handful last and stepped into the fireplace. The room disappeared with a flash, Voldemort's burning red eyes the last thing he saw.

- – -

Harry rolled onto a dusty floor and crashed into a pair of legs. Looking up, he saw Snape glaring down at him, and hurriedly stood up to get away from him. Harry had thought they had improved their relationship at least somewhat over his detention session. The only obvious reason behind the man's attitude was that Snape was a spy for the Light and was furious with Harry for joining the Dark Lord. It just seemed strange that he was so open about it.

Bellatrix was as warm to Harry as Snape was cold. She immediately brushed all of the dirt off of his robe and grinned madly at him. "Are you ready for this, kitten?"

Harry met her eyes and grinned. "I can't wait."

She grabbed him by his robes and pulled him tightly against her. "Me neither, so let's get moving!"

"Are you able to apparate, Harry?" Lucius asked.

"Not really. The night at the Ministry I managed to do it on accident, but I was never technically taught how." Harry said.

"Alright, well we can do a sidelong apparation." Bellatrix said cheerfully and pulled Harry into her arms. The group disapperated with a crack.

- – -

Harry landed on hard pavement of Privet Drive, the sun long since set over the rows of identical houses. Only the sound of automated sprinklers coating the perfectly manicured lawns interrupted the silence around them. Everybody was safely tucked away in their beds, completely unaware of what was about to happen. Bellatrix gestured towards Harry's old prison and giggled.

"Is that the house?" She asked, and Harry nodded. He slowly approached his aunt and uncle's home, his wand hand flexing in anticipation. The three Death Eaters followed close behind.

Lucius wrinkled his nose, "What a terribly unattractive neighborhood. We'll be doing them all a favor when we burn it to the ground."

"We're burning down the entire neighborhood?" Harry asked.

Bellatrix grinned. "At least a few houses, luv. We may as well make a mess while we're at it."

Snape glared at the others, stopping them in their tracks. "There are quite a few security charms cast in this area. We need to disable them somehow before you all go running in and set them off."

Lucius shook his head and gave Snape a superior smirk. "Don't you worry about that, Severus. Our Lord has already discussed with me how to take care of them. There is a spell that won't cancel the charms, since that would just alert Dumbledore and his Order, but instead slow its reaction to any intruders. As long as we're out of the charmed area within an hour they won't sense us."

Snape glared at the man. "Well get on with it then."

Lucius just smiled smugly and stepped forward. Quickly pulling his wand out of his silver cane, he whipped it over his head and said, "_Tardus Voluntas_!"

A shimmery purple veil appeared, surrounding the entire proximity of number 4 Privet Drive. Lucius nodded to the others and stepped through, the purple veil warping slightly as he passed it. Bellatrix grabbed Harry's hand in excitement and pulled him through and Snape cautiously followed.

Bellatrix rushed Harry to the front door and blasted it down. Lucius and Severus followed behind them, rolling their eyes at her enthusiasm. "Do you really want to wake the neighborhood, Bellatrix?" Lucius drawled as he eyed the living room with disdain.

Harry looked around and saw that very little had changed since he was last there. The floor, couches and coffee table were covered with his cousin's favorite brand of chips and candy wrappers, and he spotted a handheld game device. He stopped and realized something wonderful- Dudley was back for his summer break. Not only would he be forever rid of his aunt and uncle, he could be personally responsible for his cousins slow and painful death. Excitement spread through him, a tingling sense of anticipation running a chill down his spine.

"So what do you want to do first?" Bellatrix chirped. Harry jerked his head towards the stairs, put a finger to his lips for silence, and slowly walked up them. The three Death Eaters followed behind him until they were standing in front of his aunt and uncle's room. Taking a shaky breath, Harry slowly opened the door.

Enough moonlight was streaming through the windows for the group to see the two muggles sleeping comfortably in their bed. Uncle Vernon was splayed out in the center, his fat arm covering most of Harry's petite aunt, who was buried under a quilt.

Harry turned to Bellatrix. "I'm not quite sure what to do," He admitted quietly. "There are a few spells I've read about, but I've never cast any of them before..."

"How about we use this adventure as training for you? I'll demonstrate some different useful spells and you can practice on them until you get it right!" Bellatrix offered in an excited whisper.

"Just remember, we only have an hour." Lucius said cautiously.

"Alright, well we should wake them up first. Then take them to the living room. My cousin is in the next room, so one of you go get him." Harry said, turning to the two men. Lucius nodded and slipped back into the hallway and Severus wordlessly followed after him.

Bellatrix walked over to Vernon's side of the bed. "Good evening," She said in an instructive tone, her raised voice waking the two muggles. "Tonight we will be covering some basic Dark spells! We will start out with my personal favorite- though I do know firsthand that you're familiar with it." She grinned and pulled out her wand. "_Crucio_!"

Vernon's eyes bulged, his mouth gaping as he arched his back in pain. Bellatrix motioned to Harry, and he quickly cast another _Crucio_ on top of Bellatrix's. Screeching inhumanly, Vernon thrashed about in the bed, landing violently on Petunia. His elbow smashed into her temple, throwing the woman against the bedside table. Her body fell to the floor with a soft thump.

Bellatrix laughed and canceled the spell as Harry moved towards his screaming aunt and uncle. As Vernon's senses returned to him, he stared at Harry in horror and raised a trembling accusing finger.

"Y- you! What are you doing? Who is this woman?" He demanded.

Harry didn't know what to say. He had been, whether he was that aware of it or not, waiting for this day ever since he was left to be raised by such hateful muggles. He should have some long speech about the injustice they had done to such a small boy and how they had it coming, but words could not come to him. All he could think about was what he was about to do to the man, wondering what sort of spells he was about to try out on him. After a moment of eying the disgusting mass of a man, he turned to Bellatrix. "Let's take them downstairs."

Bellatrix nodded happily and crawled across the bed to Petunia, who was still lying on the floor. She bent over to pick the woman up, but stopped. "Harry... we may have a slight problem."

"What is it?" Harry asked.

Bellatrix giggled and pulled up the muggle by her shoulder. Petunia's head rolled down unnaturally, her eyes wide open but unseeing. "I think the fat muggle killed her when he hit her head." She said and giggled some more.

Vernon let out an enraged shout and made a run at Bellatrix, but Harry quickly stunned him. "You're sure she's dead?" He groaned. He had been hoping to finish off all three of his relatives himself.

Bellatrix nodded, feigning a somber look as she threw the dead woman onto the bed. "Well, we might as well carve her up before we leave her here."

"What?"

"For when the Aurors show up after the alarm goes off. Let's make a display of all of this!" Bellatrix giggled and summoned two large knives.

Harry grinned at her, shaking his head. "Why am I not surprised?"

Bellatrix shrugged and started to strip off all of Petunia's clothes. Harry grimaced, not wanting to see his aunt's naked body. "It's a tradition of mine- when I have the time I like to leave a lasting impact on my victims. If they're alive I mess with their minds, if they're dead then it's their bodies." She explained as she carefully sliced the woman's face. After a moment she sat back and grinned in satisfaction. Petunia's face was covered with blood, her eyelids sliced off and the corners of her mouth cut in an upward curve to form a sickening smile.

Harry figured he should do something, so he took one of her arms, not wanting to go anywhere near her chest or legs. He considered it for a moment before an idea struck him. "Can I see your left forearm?" He asked.

Bellatrix nodded, grinning madly as she pulled back her sleeve. The Dark Mark nearly glowed black against her pale white skin. Harry could almost feel the heat radiating off of it as he started to copy the design onto his aunt's arm, taking his time to accurately portray every small detail.

"I like it!" Bellatrix exclaimed, then nudged the prone obese man with her foot. "We should probably bring him down now, the boys are waiting for us." She said, and they levitated the fat man downstairs.

"What took you so long?" Severus snapped as they made it downstairs, "Where's the woman?"

Dudley was tied up with some summoned rope and lying across the coffee table, tears streaming down his face as he tried to speak through a silencing charm. Harry dropped Vernon roughly on the floor next to the table before making his way over to the sofa. He sat down in his cousin's favorite spot, giving the weeping boy a wink.

"We had a bit of a problem, my dear aunt managed to off herself before we could even do anything with her." He said lightly, the promise of Dark magic starting to writhe under his skin anxiously.

"A shame," Lucius sniffed, "She was the only mildly attractive one out of the three. I really do prefer the attractive ones. These two... they disgust me."

Impatient with waiting, Bellatrix moved next to the two muggles and removed Dudley's silencing charm. The boy immediately began screaming, but Bellatrix just laughed and shot a quick _Crucio_ at him. As soon as she released it he merely whimpered on the floor.

"Alright, now on to the next lesson!" She chirped and heavily shoved Dudley's stomach with her foot. "It looks to me as though this boy gets quite a bit of enjoyment out of his food. Tell me..." She said, dropping down to kneel beside the boy, "Have you eaten recently?"

Dudley stared at the grinning woman in confusion, not quite sure what answer she was looking for. Her hand shot out to grip his neck, nails digging into his flesh. He nodded tearfully and let out a choking sob as she tightened her grip.

"Wonderful! This sets us up perfectly for our next lesson, so pay attention Harry! This spell targets specific objects in the body and turns them against it. It's normally meant for organs and such, but in this case I would imagine food would be more appropriate. Follow after me, this spell is quite easy." She said in an excited but strangely precise voice, nearly reminding Harry of Professor McGonagall. "_Pugnasocius_!"

Harry briefly closed his eyes, recalling his lesson with Voldemort. This time he easily summoned and pinched off a small portion of his magic. Repeating the spell, they waited for something to happen. At first Dudley continued to lay on the floor, heavy sobs racking his body as he trembled under Bellatrix's grip, but after a moment his stomach began to make unnatural groaning noises. Bellatrix dropped him with disgust and Dudley pitched forward, putting his head between his knees as he started heaving.

"I do hope you don't have a weak stomach, Harry. This is going to be quite unpleasant." Lucius murmured in his ear.

Lucius wasn't lying. An unimaginable amount of bile began to pour from his cousin's mouth onto the carpet. Dudley coughed and sobbed as it continuously streamed out of his mouth, more than could possibly come from a living creature- even one of his size. Harry thought with a bitter laugh that he was glad his aunt and uncle wouldn't be around to make him clean all of it up.

"Do you want to let him die now, or shall we keep playing with him?" Bellatrix asked as she dropped the spell.

"Let's keep him alive for now." Harry answered gleefully, a familiar tingling sensation running down his spine.

Dudley fell onto his back, vomit covering the entire front of his body and the floor around him. Lucius banished it all with a wrinkled nose.

"Alright, well what else should I teach you?" Bellatrix asked, tapping her chin. "How about... well did he ever attack you, luv?"

"Yeah, him and his friends would chase me around and beat me up every now and then. Why?"

"You should learn this one anyway, but it'd be appropriate to use it on him in this case. Follow after me. _Laego_!" She shouted.

This time the appropriate amount of magic jumped to the forefront of Harry's mind. The effects were instantaneous, and Harry's buzz increased as his cousin flinched at an invisible blow. It seemed as though hands were reaching out and pinching, punching, and slapping the boy. The power of the hits grew stronger as Dudley sat there, until his winces in pain turned into cries. Harry heard a snapping sound as Dudley's arm seemed to break itself.

"I'm sure you can get the idea of what that spell does. It affects the mind, making it think that the target is being attacked, when there really isn't anything. The spell eventually gets so strong that the body starts to do things it otherwise wouldn't be able to, like breaking an arm." She explained.

"This is all quite interesting Bellatrix, but we're starting to run out of time." Severus suddenly said from the back of the room.

"How much time do we have left?" Harry asked.

"About fifteen minutes. Time flies when you're having fun." He answered sarcastically.

"Hmmm..." Bellatrix said, watching Dudley with disinterest as he screamed and cried on the floor. "Alright Harry, pay close attention to me and we'll put this memory in a pensive and go over the spells I use later. You can still play with the old one before we go." She said, and cast a few spells that caused some unpleasant sounds from the quivering muggle boy. After a few minutes, she turned to Harry again. "He's just about dead, would you like to do the honors?"

Harry nodded determinedly and leveled his wand at Dudley's face. "Goodbye Dudley." He said softly, staring hard into his cousin's bloodshot eyes. Dudley stared back in horror, another sob escaping his raw throat. "_Avada Kedavra_."

A flash of green finished off whatever life was left in Dudley, but Harry was too distracted to notice his cousin fall over and land on the bloody ground. Waves of the intense pleasure washed over him again, even stronger than before. His mind was blissfully empty, yet he was aware of everything around him. He could hear everybody's breath in the room like they were all crowded around him, the faint humming of the fluorescent lights in the kitchen, even the sound of the blood drying on his aunt's face. Bellatrix laid a hand on Harry's shoulder and spoke, but Harry missed the words as her magic crackled against his own. Looking around the room, his eyes fell on his prey.

Uncle Vernon had been stunned during most of the events of that night. He had to silently watch as his wife's dead body was carved up, and then endure the tortured screams of his beloved son. Unable to do anything, unable to protect his family. And now it seemed it was his turn. His wife's freaky nephew had ended up just how he predicted- a wild, mindless killer. He had no idea who his other freaky friends were, but one thing was for sure, they would make sure he didn't leave that house alive.

Harry could smell the fear deliciously radiating off of the pathetic creature. It was so weak, like it was begging for somebody more powerful to come along and destroy it. He could hear its heart pounding in terror, its breath quickening as it struggled to break out of its paralysis. Savoring the moment, he slowly approached, grinning maniacally as he raised his wand.

- – -

"-and he just tore into him like some sort of wild animal! It was fascinating, but he was really scary afterwards!"

"He successfully carried out the mission, though."

"Yes, besides the woman, but there was little controlling that."

Harry heard voices, swirling around him and fading in and out like they were being carried in the wind. He opened his eyes and waited for the room to come into focus. Blinking his eyes a few times, he saw the three Death Eaters grouped around the large desk in Voldemort's study.

Voldemort was seated behind his desk and immediately noticed Harry stirring. A strangely intense look crossed his eyes as Harry slowly sat up.

Holding his aching head, Harry mumbled, "Do you ever leave this room?"

Voldemort ignored the question. "Nice of you to join us, Potter."

Harry shrugged, "So I did it? I hardly remember leaving, how did we get back here?"

Voldemort stared at him for a moment before standing to cross the room and sit down beside Harry. "What do you remember?"

"Um... I remember my aunt dying and Bellatrix and I carving her up, and I remember helping torture my cousin... and then..." He trailed off, his memory hitting a sudden black spot. "I killed him, right?"

Voldemort nodded, "Yes. And then something happened. Can you remember?"

Harry bit his lip in concentration, but the memory just wouldn't come to him. It wasn't empty so much as unclear, like a letter written in a different language. "It's there... the memory. I just can't quite get a grasp on it, I can't see what happened."

"Hmm. Well, the main thing that matters is that you passed. With flying colors. Since you can't remember what happened, your companions shall give you a summary." He said with a wave towards the three Death Eaters.

Harry eyed the three, noting the nervousness on their faces with delight. Lucius stepped forward, clasping his hands before him.

"After you killed the boy with the killing curse you turned on your uncle and began to attack him with numerous spells Bellatrix had demonstrated for you only moments earlier. There was an incredible cloud of pure Dark magic surrounding you the whole time. I've never seen anything like it."

"You tore him to pieces, Harry." Bellatrix added, a slight hint of fear in her voice. "You ripped him open and scattered his body all around the house, screaming things about cooking breakfast and gardening... you weren't making any sense."

"Do tell him the best part, Bellatrix." Voldemort said silkily.

Bellatrix hesitated, then added, "You... you ate his heart..."

"I what?" Harry asked, his stomach churning at the thought.

"After you used a number of curses that tore his body to pieces, you picked up his heart and ate it." She said. "Then you set the entire place on fire, and the surrounding houses. You blew up everything you could see... and then the Aurors started to show up. You grabbed all of us and apparated away before they even saw you."

"What is most interesting," Voldemort interjected, "Was that you managed to apparate here. This area is _completely_ closed off to apparation, yet you managed to do it."

Harry nodded, still not getting over the idea of eating such a fatty and unhealthy heart as Uncle Vernon's... No- Eating any heart, or any body part for that matter, was bad. He slumped down slightly, horrified by his mental processes. He was starting to reconsider his choices over the past year.

Voldemort looked over to Bellatrix, "I would imagine Harry would appreciate some... real food. Or at least a Calming Draught. Take care of him and then show him to his new chambers. Severus, Lucius, you are excused."

Severus and Lucius quickly made their way into the hallway, eager to get away from the frightening boy. Bellatrix carefully placed her hands on Harry's shoulders and helped him to the door.


	9. Chapter 9- The Awakening

Hm, I wonder how many readers I lost with that last chapter :)

Bitumen

Chapter Nine- The Awakening of Darkened Skies

Harry once again found himself dreaming in the void, nothing but dark silence surrounded him in all directions. He noted with mild interest that this time he was capable of moving, able to push himself through the air as if he was swimming. Just as he realized he could also mentally will himself forward a deep voice echoed around him.

"There really isn't anywhere to go, you know. Not for the amount of time you have."

Harry spun around in alarm, but there was nobody to be found. "Hello? Who's there?"

The deep voice chuckled and a set of terrifyingly large jagged teeth suddenly towered over him. "There? What could you possibly mean by 'there' when you don't even know where you are?"

The jagged teeth seemed to be composed of numerous tears in the space around him, making the space around them crackle with static. Harry felt strangely compelled towards the monstrosity, though he knew he should be frightened.

"And what are you, then?" He asked boldly.

The teeth clicked and ground as it spoke, though where the voice itself came from was beyond knowing. "I am darkness, despair, and decay. I am the brother of death and the counterpart of light. I am you, but you are also me. I am the personification of destruction. You may know me as Olethros."

"So you're the being I released from my ring. Why have you waited so long to summon me?"

The form before him shifted, growing smaller and dimming into the vague shape of a human. Moments later Harry was facing a slightly older version of himself, a man looking to be in his mid twenties. Long black hair and a short, neat beard framed his counterpart's face, his glasses gone but the lightning bolt scar still illuminated slightly on his pale skin. Devilishly bright emerald eyes glinted at him in anticipation.

"We do not have long, so I must summarize. Time... works differently here, bringing you here will cause your body to age unnaturally. We will merge soon, but not quite yet. I wish to speak with you."

"Merge? Will you be taking over my body then?" Harry asked somewhat nervously.

Olethros shook his head. "If I could, I would have already. In order for a Planar to access the Material Realm we must inhabit a human body. We may forcefully control one but that form will only survive for a short time. In order to truly flourish we must join with the magical core of one suited towards our... disposition, and humans perfectly suited for our needs are incredibly rare. But this is all information I'm sure you have access to on Earth."

"I see... Will we be able to speak again?"

"In a way. You'll see, and I'm sure Aeries will continue to be a wealth of help and information." Olethros said sarcastically and stepped close to Harry, brushing his face intimately with a hand. "Now I understand you took your first life today. And then multiple others almost immediately after. I originally intended to merge with you following this event, but interestingly enough, you seem to be doing just fine on your own... for now. So instead I merely gave you a taste of what is to come."

Harry moved back slightly, feeling quite unsettled by the older version of himself standing so close. "So you were controlling my body when I blacked out? They say I ate my uncle's heart... Was there a reason for that?"

Olethros answered his question with a deep laugh. "Perhaps you were hungry? Your humanity is starting to split away from you, I would imagine unexpected things may begin to happen. But I cannot and will not ever control you. You didn't black out, your mind simply has yet to adjust to our combined presence and cannot interpret the memory.

"But I digress. I brought you here for a reason- to set you upon your new goal. I have grown somewhat weakened by my long imprisonment. I feed off of destruction, and you are more than capable of providing that force to me through our link. I must say that you have been doing quite well already- you have successfully found yourself involved with the best resource of knowledge and practice in your age. All I request is for you to continue this path. I understand the only way Voldemort will cooperate with you is if you give him your absolute loyalty and submit to some sort of marking, yes?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, but he has created a truly fascinating form of magic he will only teach his followers. I'll do whatever it takes to learn it."

Olethros frowned. "I am aware of his control over shadows. It is no new invention, just a long-forgotten art that you are perfectly capable of mastering without his aid. In fact, you instinctively used something very similar already. I am not opposed to you participating in whatever ceremony he has created and aligning yourself with him, as taking part in this war will be a simple enough way to provide the fuel I require.

"Just know that you are not yet nearly as strong as this man. If you do not watch out, he will control you. He is entirely aware of your potential and I assure you that he is planning on using you as a weapon and discarding you the moment you appear to be a threat. So be as submissive as possible, play on that to the best of your ability. It may be best to keep your head down and avoid drawing attention for now, though I'm quite sure we both know there's little chance of that happening."

Harry grinned. "No, probably not. So why aren't you merging with me already? What are you doing out here?"

The older man smiled darkly. "Watching, mostly. I do love observing the acts of humans. I have a few matters to attend to here in the Chaos Realm, but mostly I am allowing you to set the stage before we begin our little play."

"What do you mean?"

"Why Harry," The man stepped forward again to take Harry's chin in his hand. "We are going to get revenge. I was imprisoned for far too long, forgotten while everything moved on without me. We cannot allow that to go unforgiven. Moirei must pay."

Harry awoke in the new chambers Voldemort had assigned him, a window pouring sunlight onto his face. He felt somewhat different, but couldn't quite identify how. Remembering Olethros mentioning him aging, he jumped out of bed and immediately collapsed to the ground. Groaning in pain, he pulled himself unsteadily to his feet. Keeping a hand firmly on his bedside table, he realized he seemed to have grown considerably. At least enough to making walking feel strangely alien as he adjusted to his new height. Slowly filling with dread, he carefully approached his dressing area to find a mirror.

Though he was expecting something to be different, he nearly fell down again in surprise as he faced his reflection. Thankfully he didn't seem to have aged very much, perhaps a year or two at most. The most obvious changes were an increase in hair length, though his face just seemed altogether more mature. His hair now brushed his shoulders and his beard had filled out nicely, actually needing some maintenance to even it out.

Grinning in approval, Harry slipped into his favorite robe and pulled the large hood over his head, frowning when he noted his ankles sticking out from under the hem. He would have to find somebody to fix that later. He decided to head to the dining room for breakfast before the house elf arrived with a platter for him. Closing his bedroom door quietly behind him, he immediately spotted a figure moving down the hall. Quickening his pace, Harry followed behind them.

As Harry got closer, he could easily identify the shape before him as Bellatrix. She actually led him to the open archway of the dining room, where Lucius was already seated at the long table stretching through the center of the room. A plate of eggs and sausage sat before him, a thick envelope beside it. Harry decided to stay back and watch before entering the room.

"Ah good morning Lucius! Do you have business with our Lord this morning also?" Bellatrix said cheerfully.

"Of course. There is always work to be done in preparation for a Marking Ceremony." Lucius replied, taking a sip from a golden goblet.

"I'm so glad our Lord does not trouble me with detailed things like that... I am quite sad over my latest assignment ending so soon though." Bellatrix said, a smug look on her face as she sat at the table. A plate stacked with an enormous amount of pancakes topped with whipped cream and fruit popped in place before her. She helped herself to the silver pitcher of syrup, pouring a generous amount on top of the pancakes.

"Yes, I must congratulate you on your accomplishment. I'd imagine our Lord is quite pleased with you now." He sniffed. "So what do you make of all this? Of the events from last night."

Bellatrix finished chewing a large mouthful of pancakes and grinned widely. "He just keeps continuing to surprise me, Lucius. It's incredibly rare to find somebody so completely suited towards the Dark Arts... he's completely enchanting."

Lucius laughed softly. "Yes, I'd imagine it was hard keeping your hands off of him regardless of his age."

"Hmm, yes. About that..." Bellatrix said with a giggle.

Lucius dropped his fork, looking both scandalized and greatly entertained. "You didn't! What does Rodolphus think of that?"

"Rodolphus who?" Bellatrix giggled again. "No, but really Lucius, if that prudish wife of yours ever gives you your balls back you really should seek him out sometime. He's just... incredible."

"Oh do stop please, you're going to make me blush." Harry said loudly from the threshold, pulling back his hood as he entered the room.

Lucius jumped up from his seat, immediately drawing his wand as Bellatrix screeched in surprise. Harry grinned wryly as recognition crossed their eyes.

"Dear Lord, Potter. What happened to you?" Lucius said, his eyes wide as he lowered his wand.

Bellatrix approached him cautiously, studying Harry's eyes intently. "Is... is that you in there?"

"Of course it is. Olethros and I had a little chat last night, apparently time works differently wherever he took me so my body aged while I was there. It's not a big deal, really." Harry said with a shrug. He wished he didn't have to divulge any information regarding himself and Olethros, but it would certainly be difficult to come up with any other reason for aging a couple of years.

Bellatrix frowned. "I'm going to cast a detect age spell on you, ok?"

When Harry didn't protest, she waved her hand and cast something that caused faint blue numbers to appear in the air beside his head. Harry noticed with interest that she cast the spell wandlessly with ease. Turning slightly to read the numbers, Harry saw that he was now 18 years old. Apparently he had aged three years overnight, and still had a birthday coming up shortly as well.

"Alright, and now that that's settled, who is Rodolphus?" He asked, folding his arms coolly.

Bellatrix ducked her head down in a somewhat submissive manner. "My husband. Sorry, I figured you knew. We used to be somewhat well known before being sent to Azkaban.

"Hm, yes. A little before my time." Harry said shortly as he headed to the dining table. The other two followed him back to their chairs.

As soon as Harry sat down a plate piled with a variety of meats and a large glass of cranberry juice appeared before him. He looked up to see Lucius looking at his breakfast with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes? See something you like?" Harry asked, catching the blonde man's eyes.

Lucius studied him silently for a moment before smiling slyly. "Without a doubt. Though I must say, you do not sound particularly troubled over this spontaneous aging. Would you prefer one of us to inform our Lord or would you rather let Him know yourself?"

Harry grinned cheekily. "I think I can manage."

"Just be sure to do so before the ceremony. Our Lord is not fond of surprises. I'm quite curious about one thing, however. You should have passed the age most wizards usually reach magical maturity... do you feel any different?"

"What do you mean by different? I was raised by muggles, they certainly didn't tell me what to watch out for." Harry frowned slightly, cutting into a large slab of medium rare steak.

"Oooh yes!" Bellatrix said excitedly. "Try casting something and see what happens!"

Harry shrugged and considered what spell to cast for a moment before grinning evilly and pointing his wand directly at Bellatrix. "_Imperio_"

Her eyes immediately glazed over and Harry willed her up onto the table. She climbed up without a moment's hesitation and started stripping off her clothes as soon as the thought passed his mind.

Lucius laughed. "Try making her do something she doesn't already do on occasion."

"She makes it a habit to crawl onto tables and disrobe?"

"It's been known to happen. During the height of our Lord's original uprising we had some truly... memorable parties."

"Well, I do hope those haven't come to an end."

Lucius smirked, staring at Harry intently. "I assure you, they will continue as long as I have anything to do with it."

He glanced away from Harry to see Bellatrix holding a steak knife in her fist, sitting cross legged as she slowly drove the tip into the bottom of her foot. Lucius seemed to grow somewhat uncomfortable as the length of the blade slid deeper into her sole. Just as he was about to say something she set the knife aside and began crawling towards the man. She slid off of the table onto his lap, knocking his plate and goblet aside. Lucius regarded the naked woman with mild disgust as he tried to push her off of him.

"What's wrong, Lucius? Not a fan of the fairer sex?" Harry asked, a faint smile playing on his lips.

"No, admittedly not." He said, his voice somewhat strained as Bellatrix ran a hand down into his lap.

"Then what of your wife?"

"I used her to produce an heir, after accomplishing that requirement we have very little to do with each other." He answered, visibly relieved when Bellatrix stood up and circled around the table, each step leaving a bloody footprint on the floor behind her. Reaching Harry, she sat on the table slightly to his right and began serving his food to him.

"Well I suppose it's safe to say that you have indeed reached magical maturity... Your mastery of the _Imperio_ curse is quite impressive, but may I ask why you're treating dear Bellatrix like this?" Lucius asked.

Harry laughed dismissively. "We have a very special relationship. I think to think of it as a special sort of payback for what she did to my godfather, though I know she likes being treated this way."

"So you resent her for killing Sirius? Even though he was our enemy? I do hope you are aware that you will be required to kill your former friends, perhaps sooner than you'd expect."

Harry rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to allow Bellatrix to place a piece of steak between his teeth. Reaching out a hand, she passed him his glass of cranberry juice. He slowly sipped at the juice and handed the glass back to her before returning his attention to Lucius. "Of course I'm aware of that. Sirius was just different. I'll get over it, I'm sure."

Harry passed the discarded shoes and clothing to Bellatrix and allowed her to dress. Her zombie-like gaze dropped as soon as she finished. "What happened? Did I miss something?" She asked, a dazed expression on her face as she studied the two men.

Lucius watched with an amused expression as Harry smiled sweetly at her. "Not really. Lucius was just telling me about the fantastic parties our Lord has thrown in the past."

Bellatrix's eyes lit up as she turned to Lucius. "Oh! We must throw another one soon! Perhaps to celebrate Harry joining us?"

Lucius shrugged slightly before standing. "I am meeting with our Lord shortly, I'll bring it up with him. I'm sure Narcissa would be delighted to host an event."

Bellatrix moved to return to her seat, gasping in pain as she lifted her foot from the floor. Harry glanced at her in mock concern. "Everything alright?"

The woman sat down and removed her shoe. "My foot is bleeding. I have no idea what happened..."

Harry shook his head. "Maybe you stepped on something sharp."

She cast a healing charm on her foot. "Hm, weird. All better now. See you tonight Lucius, my dove." She waved cheerily at the man as he left the dining room. "Anyways... will you be continuing to spontaneously age like this every time you wake up? I must say I'm liking it so far."

"No idea. I don't even know if I'll be able to speak with Him the same way again. He said there is some way for us to communicate in the Material Realm, but didn't really go into detail about it."

"How strange. The Material Realm?" Bellatrix asked through a mouthful of pancake, whipped cream falling from her mouth onto her plate messily.

"I guess that's where we are now." Harry said with a shrug. "He referred to where we were last night as the Chaos Realm. I'm sure the other two have their own realms as well."

"I've never even heard of such a thing. What was it like?"

"Dark and empty. Like I was floating in outer space. I thought I was dreaming at first... I didn't really get the chance to ask Him many questions. I feel like my only hope for answers is through the Zabinis. Blaise did say his family knows more than anybody on the topic."

"Well, the Dark Lord is actively pursuing members of the Zabini family for our cause... so perhaps that can happen sooner than you'd think." Bellatrix said with a sly smile. "Alright, so I have to ask. What do you think of the Dark Lord?"

Harry pushed the remainder of his meal aside, only for the plate to be replaced with a large slice of coffee cake and a mug of rich black coffee. He smiled pleasantly and took a bite before responding. "I wasn't expecting him to be so... friendly."

Bellatrix giggled. "That's a new one. Frightening, absolutely. Fascinating, sure. But friendly? Not so much. You must have really impressed him."

"Well, yes. There are many words to describe him and he exceeded expectations on all of those ends. But he actually trained me on controlling my magic efficiently. Apparently he wants me to be his apprentice."

Bellatrix raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Well that's unexpected. Did he say what exactly that means?"

"Kind of. He wants to personally oversee my education, and he seemed to imply that he'll be teaching me some things. Have you ever heard of Expansion?"

"Of course!" Bellatrix grinned widely. "I'm doing it right now. It kind of automatically kicks in when I experience pain."

Harry leaned forward excitedly. "So it's something you can activate and deactivate at will?"

Bellatrix jumped out of her seat and moved next to Harry. Pushing his plate out of the way, she sat down on the table in front of him, her legs on either side of his chair as she leaned her face in close to his. He noted that her pupils were incredibly dilated.

"On" She said and closed her eyes, then opened them to show regular size pupils. "And off!"

The air around her subtly dimmed, like a nearly invisible field of energy had suddenly dissipated. Harry cocked his head in fascination. "When do I learn how to do that?"

Bellatrix slid off of the table onto his lap, cupping his face in her hands. "That's not for me to say, obviously. Though it kind of comes naturally with enough practice. It's like crossing your eyes to make your vision blurry. At first it's impossible, yeah? But then you learn how to relax them and..." Her pupils dilated again and her skin nearly crackled with latent energy. "Then all the sudden it just happens. You know what I mean?"

Harry laughed and burrowed his face into her neck, deeply inhaling the delicious sensation of her Dark magic. "Sometimes all I know is that you are truly mad... But anyway, back to our Lord. Is he usually so... physical with his followers?"

"What do you mean by that?" Bellatrix asked, her tone nearly teasing as the field of energy around her dropped again.

"He kept sitting next to me... touched my face a few times." Harry said with a shrug.

Bellatrix laughed loudly. "Ah, I would have thought you were far too young for him. Our Lord would often take his favorite followers to bed with him. It's actually quite an honor."

"I take it you were once one of them?" Harry asked teasingly.

"Once? I'll have you know that I have been his favorite ever since the day I received my Dark Mark."

"Ah, I only meant that due to the fact that you're married."

Bellatrix grinned and slowly licked Harry's neck. "Rodolphus and I have an open relationship. We were young and foolish when we got married and our tastes, or his rather, have changed quite a bit since then."

"His tastes have changed? Aside from a gay man or a straight woman I fail to see how anybody wouldn't find you to their liking."

"Aw, you flatter me kitten. But Rodolphus seems to have a preference for very young girls. And ever since Azkaban it's gotten... grosser. Like... dead things gross."

Harry wrinkled his nose. "Oh. Sorry I asked."

Bellatrix shrugged. "No worries. So are you excited for tonight?"

"I suppose. A little anxious too though. I have no idea what to expect." He admitted.

"Oh there's always some dramatic display involved. All Death Eaters are required to attend so there'll be a crowd watching. You'll probably come up on some stage and be introduced... though I'm not sure whether he plans on revealing your identity yet. He may have you keep a mask on through the ceremony. But sometimes he throws in some extra excitement like making you kill a muggle, or sometimes even duel other initiates. Though not to the death, typically."

Harry laughed. "Typically?"

Bellatrix smiled devilishly. "I hope he makes somebody duel you. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he did."

"I suppose I wouldn't be either. He never really told me what to do before the ceremony. Should I just drop by his study?"

"Ooh, I don't know... I suppose so. He does hate surprise visits though."

The two jumped slightly at the sound of a throat clearing from the door. Bellatrix leaned back and grinned at the newcomer. "Good morning Severus! Come to join us for breakfast?"

Snape scowled, his solid black robes making him strikingly bat-like as he swept briskly into the room. "Hardly. It seems I am serving as our Lord's personal courier. He has instructed me to accompany you to his study." He said flatly, turning his attention to Harry.

Bellatrix made a whining noise and slid off of Harry's lap. "I suppose I'll finish my pancakes alone then."

Harry stood, finishing his coffee with a large gulp before stepping away from the table. Snape stiffened as Harry approached, taking in the somewhat older face with shock. Harry grinned wryly, "Don't ask."

Snape sniffed dramatically. "Wasn't planning on it."

The two walked down the hall in uncomfortable silence. They passed numerous identical oak doors, the growing intensity of Voldemort's Dark magic the only obvious force guiding them to the correct room. The two stopped abruptly in front of the door to his study and Snape glared at Harry. "He's not going to be happy, you know. The Dark Lord hates surprises."

"So I've been told." He said grimly and pulled up his hood. He knocked on the door and it swung open almost immediately. Snape stalked down the hall without another word.

"Good morning, my Lord." He said cheerfully as he crossed the threshold. Voldemort was again sitting behind his desk, and merely rolled his eyes at the informal greeting. "Ah, I have something to tell you. It's probably best to get it out of the way now."

Voldemort narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Well do go on then."

Harry grimaced slightly as he pulled his hood back. Voldemort stiffened in surprise, a look of pure astonishment crossing his face. "What in the world... What explanation do you have for this?"

Harry sighed and approached the large desk. "Olethros visited me in a dream last night. Or rather, He summoned me to His plane of existence. He didn't really go into detail, but apparently time works differently there. We only spoke for a short while but when I awoke I had aged a couple of years."

There was a pause. "This is the part where you tell me what you discussed."

"Oh, well..." Harry smiled slightly. "He practically complimented me on my decision to join you. He sent me on a mission to participate in as much chaos and destruction as possible, apparently there is a link between us and doing so will help Him regain His former power."

"His former power? Does He intend to take control of Earth?"

"I don't think so. From the sounds of it the Planars can't really interact with humans beyond short term possession and rare circumstances like myself. It sounds like they have ongoing conflicts between each other, though apparently Olethros and Aeries are allies. Olethros seems to be biding his time until He is able to overtake Moirei somehow. He couldn't really go into detail on anything because He didn't want to keep me there too long, but I think He'll be contacting me again soon."

Voldemort was silent for a moment, his eyes deeply penetrating Harry's. Harry couldn't help but feel that the Dark Lord was perusing his mind for any lies. After a moment he blinked and settled back slightly in his chair. "Well, I do expect you to contact me immediately with any new information."

"Of course. I apologize for startling you with my appearance... I wasn't sure how to approach the situation." Harry bowed his head humbly, knowing it was in his best interest to act completely submissive to the Dark Lord.

"Indeed." Voldemort murmured, the slightest tinge of humor in his voice as he studied Harry's face. "The ceremony will be taking place this evening. I do hope you are ready. You will be expected to demonstrate your abilities in front of a rather large group."

Harry grinned and leaned forward, bracing his weight against the desk. "I had hoped so. So I'll be killing something then?"

"Perhaps. It all depends on how well the other initiates do."

"Other initiates?"

"Yes, there will be four others. I believe you know them, actually." Voldemort said lightly, merely raising an eyebrow when Harry asked who they were. "Anyway, there is a reason I summoned you. I have decided that because of your upcoming position as my apprentice you will wear a special mask and robes."

Voldemort waved his hand at a brown box sitting on the desk. Removing the lid and setting it to the side, Harry pulled out the contents. On top was a heavy black Death Eater mask with golden flourishes etched around the eyes. A very fine black robe with similar gold lining and clasps made of tiny golden serpents sat underneath.

Harry examined the mask carefully before holding it up to his face, missing the short triumphant look crossing the Dark Lord's eyes as the Death Eater guise covered the Boy-Who-Lived's face. "Is this enchanted with something? I feel magic on it."

"Yes, actually. It is enchanted to disguise your voice, and nobody but you or myself may remove it. Even in death." Voldemort replied, yet again surprised by Harry. It was not unusual of to be able to sense enchantments, but only after years of training. He examined him for a moment, noting Harry's complete lack of nervousness for the upcoming ceremony.

"Severus will be fetching you from your chambers in a few hours. You will not be receiving dinner beforehand, as I intend for you to join myself and the Inner Circle in the dining room immediately following the ceremony. After I have dismissed the others fall to the back of the group and follow them to the dining room." Voldemort said and waved his wand to open the door to the hallway.

Harry sighed in frustration and tossed a pair of sheers on the bathroom counter. He had borrowed the hairdresser's pair from Bellatrix's room in order to tidy up his overgrown beard and was having a hard time figuring out how to control them.

There was a sound of somebody clearing their throat, and Harry looked up at the mirror to see Snape standing behind him- his arms crossed in impatience in his elaborate ceremony robes. "You are needed in the ceremony chamber in a half hour. Why aren't you ready yet?"

Harry shrugged and turned around. "I was just about to go get changed. I'm just having a hard time with these damn scissors."

Snape gave him a sour look. "You'll be wearing a mask and hood anyway. I have been instructed to stay with you and make sure you get there on time. We don't need you running off or hiding."

Harry just shook his head and walked to his wardrobe, Snape trailing close behind him. "Why would you think I would do that?" He asked after a moment.

"Our Lord is still somewhat concerned about your motives. He still has the slightest suspicion that you are only pretending to go along with him so you can escape when you get the opportunity."

"Why would I possibly want to do that? Where could I go?" Harry snorted.

"You can always go back to the Order. I'd imagine you would always be welcome there."

Harry turned quickly and stared at Snape. "Not interested." He said flatly. "Though it sounds almost like you're suggesting I do that. Why would a loyal Death Eater suggest I go back to the opposing side?"

Snape shrugged, but the slightest trace of what almost seemed like satisfaction flashed across his face. "I just still have yet to see any solid evidence of your commitment to this. You strike me as an impulsive child basking in the attention of the Dark Lord. Who's to say you won't be changing your mind after it's too late?"

"Hm... Well I've already slaughtered my family, so what else can I do to convince you otherwise? Kill some more people? Suck our Lord's cock at the marking ceremony? Really, I'm open to suggestions." Harry said, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

Snape considered Harry for a moment before granting him a look of disapproval and boredom. "Vulgarity will get you nowhere, Potter."

Harry just flashed him a dark, knowing smile and took his new robe out of the wardrobe. Snape hurriedly turned around before Harry could mockingly ask for the man to help him out of his clothes. The robes were exquisitely made, thick yet flowing. They draped elegantly around his body, a large hood covering most of his face before he even put the mask on. The material automatically adjusted itself around his body, fitting him like a glove.

After his robes were on and the mask was in place, Snape nodded in approval and briskly headed for the hallway. One rule Voldemort had made very clear to the three that knew of his apprentice's existence was that they were not under any circumstance allowed to address him while he was wearing his mask. Any minor slip of the tongue might give away his identity to the other Death Eaters and risk Voldemort's plan to keep him as a secret weapon of sorts.

The two slowly approached the massive gilded doors leading to the ceremony chamber, the low rumble of voices escaping into the hallway. He could feel the throb of Dark magic seeping from the room, the combined magics of the many wizards and witches grouped inside stirring together. Already feeding off of the delicious darkness from the room, he decided to make a lasting first impression on his new comrades.

"I must join the rest of the crowd now. Approach the platform and stand at the far left end of the line." Snape said, and when Harry nodded he moved to open the door. Harry grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.

"I go in front." He said cockily and pushed past Severus into the crowded room.

The room was much smaller than Harry had imagined, visualizing some massive chamber full of ancient sculptures and ornate carvings on the walls. It was only slightly bigger than the Slytherin common room, but square and empty of any furnishings besides the throne sitting on the platform towards the back. It was overwhelmingly crowded, the mass of Death Eaters seeming much bigger in the small room than it probably was. The air was heavy with the individual auras of each Death Eater, forming a delicious cloud of Dark magic swirling lazily around the focal point of the room.

Voldemort lounged in a large throne, power radiating off of his body tantalizingly, causing a slight shiver to run down Harry's spine. Some of the masked figures glanced at Harry as he entered the room, but all attention immediately refocused on the Dark Lord. Harry quietly joined the four others standing before the throne.

Voldemort stood and addressed the crowd. "I have gathered you all here today to witness the marking of five new Death Eaters. With this induction we shall initiate the next stage of my plan- the infiltration of Hogwarts. Any parents of Hogwarts students among the crowd would do well to speak to their children as the parents of these new initiates have. It is your responsibility as a Dark wizard to influence the spread of the Dark Arts- especially among the youth."

The door closed with a loud slam as a small group entered the chamber. Voldemort grinned evilly and chuckled. "It seems our guests of honor have arrived."

Peter Pettigrew slinked forward, five muggles stunned and floating in the air behind him. He dropped them roughly on the platform and backed away, bowing deeply all the while. Voldemort gestured towards the figure at the far right end of the row and said simply, "Select your victim."

Harry watched in fascination as the masked wizard approached a trembling woman and unfroze her. She immediately started pleading with him, pure terror filling her eyes. The wizard said nothing in response as they drew their wand. There was a flash of green light and the woman fell to the ground.

"How very uninspired. You may approach." Voldemort drawled.

Harry idly recalled Voldemort mentioning that he knew everybody on the platform with him. He eyed the kneeling figure, but couldn't tell who they were through the loose-fitting robes and mask. Voldemort lowered the tip of his wand to the bared forearm of the figure kneeling before him. There was a moment of silence before the person let out a pained cry.

'Why... that sounded somewhat like Draco.' Harry thought with delight.

The next initiate stepped forward and dispatched their muggle with a slicing curse to the neck, sprayed blood splattering on their robes and the other kneeling muggles lined up before them. The mess didn't seem to phase the masked figure in the slightest as they turned to receive their mark. Unlike Draco, this person remained entirely silent.

The next initiate stepped forward, visibly trembling as they faced their victim. They shakily raised their wand and aimed it at the sobbing man kneeling on the ground and held it for a moment before shaking their head and turning away.

"I... I can't do this. I'm sorry, I just can't..." A soft, familiar feminine voice whispered.

Voldemort snarled in irritation and stunned the trembling girl. As she fell to the ground her mask came off, revealing the face of Pansy Parkinson. Her stunned body had fallen in the center of the platform, making the fourth cloaked figure step over her to reach the muggles.

The fourth cloaked figure dispatched their muggle with a suffocation curse, steadily watching their victim slowly choke to death. As soon as the muggle fell to the ground, the person approached the Dark Lord and knelt down to bare a dark tattoo-covered arm. Harry could hardly contain his excitement as he immediately recognized Blaise.

Finally it was Harry's turn. Before he could choose between the final two remaining muggles, Voldemort stopped him. "It seems we have a failure among us. Instead of dispatching the worthless life of a Muggle, end this pathetic excuse for a witch instead."

Harry grinned, he had been wondering what killing a wizard would be like. The young girl was no longer stunned, tears streaming down her face as she pleaded with the Dark Lord for her life. Regardless of the fact that he knew the poor girl, Harry knew this was the best opportunity he had to make a lasting impression on all of the other Death Eaters. Noting Draco, Blaise and the other watching him with interest, he turned his wand to aim at the kneeling muggles and put the one Pansy was supposed to kill under an _Imperio _curse.

The muggle stood immediately and approached Pansy. She cried out in outrage as the man wrapped his hands around her throat, sitting on top of her so she was pinned to the ground. There were numerous laughs from the crowd as the muggle man repeatedly slammed her head against the stage floor. After a moment, Harry shot a Corruption curse at the two. The inky black cloud lazily wrapped around them, drawing a bloodcurdling scream from Pansy. Harry felt a curious tug on his link to the muggle man as the spell began to eat away at their flesh, gasping slightly despite himself as the familiar tingling overcame him yet again. Both bodies were entirely disintegrated after a few minutes.

"You may approach." Voldemort said, beckoning Harry forward. Harry stepped over the pile of clothes where the two once were and dropped to his knees before the Dark Lord's throne.

Voldemort pressed the tip of his wand roughly into Harry's skin, triumphant red eyes the last thing he saw before the pain of the Morsmordre curse overtook him. The curse burned into his arm, overwhelming yet delicious tingling spreading through his body. After a moment Harry took a deep shaky breath and opened his eyes to meet the Dark Lord's, the man's gaze somehow helping him stabilize enough to stand and rejoin the other new initiates.

Harry barely heard Voldemort address the crowd once again, still buzzing from the strange new presence in his mind. While he expected the Dark Mark to be painful, he had not anticipated much sensation away from its physical location on his forearm. He could practically feel the Dark Lord inside of him, or at least a very powerful link between them. He wondered if the other Death Eaters felt the same.

The air inside the chamber suddenly seemed lighter and Harry glanced up to see the room was mostly empty. Harry inspected the other three on the platform, wondering if he would have an opportunity to speak with Blaise soon. He doubted it considering he was supposed to keep his identity a secret for now.

Voldemort gestured to Draco, Blaise and the other initiate. "You three are excused."

They all nodded solemnly and shot Harry a look before quietly leaving the chamber. After the door closed behind them, Voldemort stood addressed Harry and the few other Death Eaters still in the chamber. "The meeting will resume shortly in the dining room. We still have much to discuss."

There almost seemed to be a faint trace of a smile on the Dark Lord's lips as he melted away into the shadows.


	10. Chapter 10- The Symphony of Dying Lights

Lots of talking in this one...

**You should read this.** Let's get something straight, my loves. I had hoped that Olethros and Harry's conversation at the beginning of the last chapter made this at least somewhat clear- Harry is NOT a god right now. He just has a link to Olethros that the Planar can send his power through when he sees fit (such as at the Ministry of Magic and at the Dursley's). Olethros has not entered his body (yet) and is currently sidetracked by whatever it is he's doing in the Chaos Realm. Until then, Harry just has an incredible amount of Dark magic and a natural talent for controlling it. That isn't to say that he will be weak through the whole story... Everything will be explained when Harry meets some people that have more information on the Planars.

I'm introducing an unlikely character for Voldemort's Inner Circle just for the sake of some variety. I also had to invent a few first names. Numerous personalities are probably quite different from the established cannon... so bitch about it in a review if you want. I'm just trying to have some fun here.

This chapter is _much_ longer on the adultfanfiction site. Hint hint. ;D

Bitumen

Chapter Ten- The Symphony of Dying Light

Most of the Death Eaters promptly began chatting amongst themselves and headed for the door. A cloaked figure that could only be Bellatrix climbed onto the platform and grabbed Harry by the arm. "Come walk with me kitten!"

They fell back slightly so the others were a decent distance in front of them, a couple turning to glance curiously at the two as they headed down the hall. Harry glanced at the gleeful woman. "Didn't our Lord say to avoid speaking to me in front of others?"

"It's different when it's just the Inner Circle. They're all going to find out who you are in a bit anyway. What, did you expect to eat dinner with your mask on?" She cackled loudly.

"Oh, good point. I was wondering how I was supposed to manage that."

The two reached the doorway to the dining room, Bellatrix pulling her mask off as soon as they passed the threshold. She turned to grin widely at him. "You should wait for permission to remove your mask. I'm sure he'll want to make a big deal over you."

Harry was entirely aware that most of the hushed conversations in the room were regarding him. Everybody else had removed their masks at this point and were taking their seats around the long table, glancing his way occasionally. Snape and Lucius were the only other familiar faces amongst under a dozen other men and women. A sudden shiver ran through the group as a subtle black shadow swept to the head of the table. Voldemort's pale, tall figure materialized before them- his burning red eyes immediately landing on Harry. All conversation ceased as everybody respectfully stood and bowed their heads to the Dark Lord. He waved them off carelessly, his eyes never leaving Harry.

"Everybody, I would like to introduce the newest member of our family. Come Harry, make yourself comfortable." Voldemort said lightly, the chair to his left pulling out slightly in invitation.

There were quite a few sharp intakes of breath as Harry's name was mentioned. He smoothly crossed the room to sit at Voldemort's left hand, Bellatrix circling around the table to sit at his right. As soon as he settled in his seat he felt the black and gold mask shift slightly as it magically detached itself from his face. Removing it with one hand, he greeted the numerous shocked expressions with a cheeky grin.

There was a long pause. A strikingly beautiful woman stood, shaking her head. "This is impossible. You don't even look like yourself!"

Her voice was strangely familiar and Harry considered her for a moment. "Sorry, have we met?"

"Right. Sorry." She said awkwardly. Her face suddenly shifted and Harry found himself staring at Nymphadora Tonks.

"Tonks! What are you doing here?" He exclaimed, forgetting where he was for a moment. He had only met the metamorphmagus briefly over the summer, but he had accepted that she was an entirely Light witch.

"I could ask you the same thing. What happened to you?" She asked, her face changing back as she spoke.

Voldemort raised his hand, all chatter around the table immediately halting. "I'd imagine this conversation would be best had over dinner, yes?"

Everybody nodded eagerly and an enormous selection of food instantly materialized before them. Harry helped himself to an assortment of rare steak cuts and pastries before returning his attention to the woman.

"As I was saying, this past year has brought on some... rather unexpected changes in myself." Harry began. He glanced at Voldemort, unsure of how much information was appropriate to share with the group.

"The details of Harry's circumstances will be kept on a strictly need to know basis. Who he was before is of no matter- today he has been reborn as a Death Eater. I am most pleased to introduce you all to my new apprentice." Voldemort said coolly.

A man sitting further down the table let out a sharp cry of outrage. Harry was startled to recognize none other than Barty Crouch Jr. Harry had assumed the man was dead, or at the very least abandoned and soulless in some Azkaban cell. The once handsome young man seemed to have a certain ashen aspect to him, his skin paper white with deep dark circles around his eyes. His lips were pale and cracked and his hair seemed strangely thin. The altogether appearance made him seem to look like he had just been pulled out of a grave.

"Yes, Barty? Do you have something to say?" Voldemort asked, his voice soft and dangerous.

The young man seemed to be fuming, but shook his head and remained silent. Tonks once again stood to speak. "I believe we are all just somewhat caught off guard by your decision to make Harry Potter your apprentice. I am not questioning your judgment, we just have yet to see his abilities for ourselves."

Bellatrix giggled madly and stood to address the table. "I assure you, Harry has more than proven himself. I'm sure you all heard about the attack on his muggle family's home last night, yes? Lucius, Severus and I were there to witness as Harry destroyed his former family and neighborhood before evading a team of Aurors."

Numerous glances exchanged around the table as the Death Eaters absorbed the information. Harry grimaced slightly, knowing it was quite likely that outburst of power was a temporary gift from Olethros. He wasn't sure when he'd be able to put on such a display again.

"Yes, and now if that matter is settled, I do believe some introductions are in order." Voldemort began, turning to Harry.

Harry felt a strange tremor of pleasure as Voldemort's eyes bored deeply into his own, wondering if the sensation was somehow connected to his Dark Mark. He had figured there was some sort of compulsion spell tied to the mark but he was entirely unsure of how powerful it would be.

"Everybody gathered here is a member of my Inner Circle." Voldemort continued, maintaining steady eye contact with Harry. "These witches and wizards are the most powerful Dark magic users of our age. They have successfully infiltrated the Ministry of Magic, Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix. Anything discussed during our meetings is strictly confidential but any Inner Circle member may speak with another about these matters whenever they are in private, as determined by the wards in their Dark Marks. You will find that being a member of the Inner Circle is quite the privilege. Everybody here has proven to be especially powerful and loyal, and have earned a certain amount of regard from myself because of this. When we are gathered privately like this everybody is granted a certain amount of allowance to speak and behave freely in my presence."

Voldemort gestured to Harry's left, where Lucius and two other men sat. "You have already met Lucius. Beside him sits Jakob Yaxley and Antonin Dolohov." The two men nodded respectfully.

"Across from you are Bellatrix, Severus and Barty, of course, and the ever-adaptable Nymphadora Tonks. I was unaware that the two of you had been previously acquainted."

Tonks smiled warmly, her full red lips parting slightly to reveal a series of tiny sharp teeth. "Once, briefly at the Order of the Phoenix headquarters. I must say Harry, your sudden transformation is most attractive."

A brief flash of jealousy crossed Bellatrix's face as she abruptly stood. "I would understand if you were feeling a slight sense of confusion regarding dear Nymphadora's presence here. Ordinarily we would never allow one with such... filthy blood, but Nymphadora's unique set of skills have set her apart from the rest of the trash."

"That's quite enough Bellatrix." Voldemort said warningly. Bellatrix blushed furiously and sat back down.

Harry frowned quizzically at Bellatrix before turning to Tonks. "I'm still somewhat in shock to see you here. You struck me as being an entirely Light wizard. It seemed like the Order trusted you."

Tonks grinned. "Well, the feeling's mutual. I'm very good at my job. Thankfully Dark wizards can only detect the auras of other Dark wizards, just as purely Light wizards can only other Light wizards. I just make sure to come across as entirely Neutral and all the Light can do is pity me somewhat for not being quite as 'good' as them."

A fuming Barty Crouch spoke up once again. "I still just fail to see the reasoning behind such a quick induction of Potter to the Inner Circle. I understand that Nott's death left an opening, it just-"

"Are you honestly questioning our Lord's judgment? If you don't quit your whining there will be another spot opening up." Antonin Dolohov interrupted.

"Oh? Somebody died?" Harry asked curiously.

A few snickers sounded around the table as Lucius spoke up. "Well, yes. The third person accompanying Bellatrix and I at the Ministry of Magic the night we captured you was Gregory Nott. He died after being buried in that avalanche of prophecies."

Harry laughed out loud. "I had forgotten about that. Well, I suppose an apology is in order."

"Hardly!" Tonks said with a light laugh. "I swear, after that last Walpurgis festival I couldn't stand to look at him."

Lucius noted Harry's confused expression and explained. "Gregory Nott was a dirty old man. He may have been a member of the Death Eaters from the very beginning and had some holdings in the Ministry of Magic, but he will not be missed."

"Do speak for yourself, Lucius. Nott and I had been friends for a very long time." Antonin Dolohov said irritably, Jakob Yaxley nodding in agreement.

"What's a Walpurgis festival?" Harry asked.

"One of the best nights of the year!" Tonks exclaimed excitedly, drawing a sour look from Bellatrix. "It marks the beginning of spring, so it symbolically celebrates life. It's essentially an excuse to explore the incredibly hedonistic qualities of man through enormous amounts of drugs, sex and magic."

"Those of us with more taste would likely prefer Samhain, of course." Bellatrix sniffed. "It is much more suited towards those with a preference for death and destruction."

"I'd imagine that I'd enjoy both." Harry said with a shrug and turned back to Voldemort. "So, during the ceremony I was able to identify Draco and Blaise but I couldn't tell who the other one was. May I ask who they are?"

"I would almost rather make you wait to find out for yourself. You would have a hard time believing me otherwise." Voldemort replied lightly. "I do need you to follow me after this meal to arrange your new schedule. Some of you," He said to the others around the table, "May be contacted shortly as we will be utilizing your various areas of expertise in order to further Harry's education."

Harry noted Bellatrix and Lucius sharing a quick, knowing glance before turning their attention to the Dark Lord. They seemed to be amused by the concept of Harry and the Dark Lord being alone together. He wondered if there was still something upcoming for him to be wary of.

The conversation then turned to matters Harry had no part in, so he focused on the meal before him. Finally the meal came to an end and Bellatrix immediately circled around the table to link her arm through Harry's possessively. A cross look touched Tonk's face before she raised her hand to the side of her face in the mimicry of a telephone, mouthing the words 'call me' before turning to leave the room. Harry couldn't help but laugh at the sheer absurdity of such a muggle phrase in a place like this.

"Well..." Bellatrix started, smoothing her hands down the front of Harry's robes. "That was fun. I know you must accompany our Lord, but will I see you later tonight?"

Harry shrugged, feeling somewhat turned off by Bellatrix's jealousy. "Perhaps. I'm not really sure what he had in mind, so I'll seek you out if I'm not kept too late."

"I will try to not deprive you for too long, Bellatrix." Voldemort said dryly. "I do intend to use your unique talents to assist in training Harry, so fret not."

Bellatrix nodded happily. "Excellent! I will not let you down, my Lord."

Voldemort nodded patiently and waved her off before placing a hand on the small of Harry's back. The sudden contact shot through Harry like a jolt of electricity. Voldemort smiled darkly, as if he knew exactly what effect he was having on him. "Come now, we still have much to discuss."

He had led to two of them to a new room, some sort of private den by the looks of it. The walls were paneled with rich oak, the stone floors warmed by a large ornate rug set before a crackling fireplace. Voldemort settled into a comfortable looking armchair and Harry sat down in a matching one beside him, a small wooden table between them.

"So I must ask, how are you feeling?" Voldemort asked.

Harry shrugged slowly, analyzing the strong connection he felt to the older wizard. There was a deep desire for approval, mixed with strong feelings of worshipfullness and lust drawing him nearer to the Dark Lord. He realized that once he identified the desire it subsided slightly, allowing him to feel less subservient to the man.

"Strange, I suppose. Is it normal to feel such a strong need to crawl before you and kiss your feet?" He asked, drawing a somewhat surprised look.

"The first few days are always the most intense for new Death Eaters while your body adjusts to the mark and its compulsions. Being in such close proximity to me should be wreaking havoc on your mental capabilities for now. In all honestly, I was expecting to have you keep you off of my lap. Typically the more Dark-oriented the wizard, the more powerfully they are affected by a fresh Dark Mark."

"Oh, well I suppose I like to think I have some self control." Harry reasoned.

"Indeed. And here I was almost offended by your lack of interest." Voldemort said, his tone nearly teasing. "I often sleep with my more desirable Death Eaters shortly after their marking ceremony. I find it establishes a certain level of more intimate loyalty and helps me to understand their particular... skills. It is not something I am accustomed to asking for."

"From every Death Eater?"

Voldemort smiled lightly and leaned in close towards Harry. "I am most proficient at identifying who would be receptive to my advances."

There was a pause. Harry took a quick deep breath. "In all honestly, I had figured that I was far too young for your attention."

"Mm, perhaps yesterday." Voldemort said, a soft laugh catching Harry off guard. "It's surprising what a few years can do."

Harry opened his mouth to reply when the air around him thickened intensely with the seductive weight of Dark magic. He could nearly see it rushing from the Dark Lord, reaching out to Harry with shadow-like tentacles. Closing his eyes, he sighed in pleasure as the shadows enveloped him. He realized his body was standing and moving the short distance between his armchair and the one Voldemort occupied. Crawling into the Dark Lord's lap, Harry was overcome with a feeling of pure ecstatic rightness.

"And now your training truly begins." Voldemort murmured darkly in his ear. "I need you to focus again on your magic, Harry. Summon the well of power you hold within yourself. Tell me... what does it look like?"

Harry buried his face into the space between Voldemort's neck and the armchair, deeply inhaling the scent of his magic. The moment he focused on the depths of his mind he found himself staring at his magical core. The mass was moving slowly but erratically, with many spiked points jutting out in every direction.

"Last time it was a perfect black sphere. But now... it's jagged, nearly star-like."

Voldemort reached his hand into Harry's robes. "And what about now?"

There was no sense of time inside the dark shroud of magic, only absolute numbness. It was almost meditative. His body's helpless rocking faded out of existence as he pulled deeper into his mind. All he could see or feel was pure black until suddenly a form appeared before him- shapeless at first but slowly taking on the appearance of a man.

Olethros stepped forward, still taking on the form of an older Harry. He tisked lightly and gave Harry a dark, knowing grin.

"I told you so."

Harry opened his eyes with a gasp. He was sitting alone, fully clothed, in the armchair. Voldemort stood before him with his back turned, observing the empty hearth of the fireplace. The Dark Lord turned at the sound of his gasp and regarded Harry for a moment before speaking.

"We extinguished the fire."

"Pardon?"

"The combined force of our magic extinguished the fire... without even trying. It became a tangible entity that physically interacted with our surroundings without any direction on our end." There was a wild look of elation in his eyes. "I imagine you're unaware of how significant this is."

Harry shrugged uncomfortably. "I suppose so. Exactly how significant is it?"

Voldemort stepped closer to him. "It is unprecedented."

Harry was quiet for a moment before eying the Dark Lord coolly. "And I suppose you'll have to rape me each time you want to accomplish this?"

"Oh, Harry... Don't you see this is much bigger than your feelings? We are on the verge of a major breakthrough- we accomplished something ordinarily only possible through carefully focused ritual. I'm sure you are intelligent enough to understand the potential this holds."

Voldemort reached out a hand to tenderly run a hand through Harry's hair. Harry reared his head back, glaring furiously. "So what, you want to blow the Order away with a gust of wind?"

"Don't be stupid. It's quite unattractive." Voldemort said dismissively as he began pacing the room.

"Well perhaps my concern regarding your attraction towards me has diminished." Harry said, rising out of the armchair.

A strange light seemed to be dancing in the Dark Lord's eye as he quickly crossed the distance between them. "You are letting your emotions get the best of you. I understand that you're upset with me but I need you to calm down."

As angry as Harry was he couldn't help but be fascinated by the Dark Lord's energy. It was almost certainly caused by the lingering compulsion from his Dark Mark, but seeing his Lord so pleased gave him a certain level of joy. Voldemort seemed to be aware of this. He stepped even closer and embraced Harry, smirking as he felt the young wizard's body stubbornly relax against him.

"Just imagine what we can accomplish with our combined powers." He murmured, cupping Harry's face nearly tenderly between his hands. "Now I'm sure you've had a long day. Go get some sleep, I will send for you in the morning so we can resume this conversation."

Harry nodded numbly as Voldemort gently guided him to the door.

He awoke to a soft, warm weight nuzzled on top of him. A tangled mass of black hair pressed against his face, Bellatrix's sleeping face peeking out. Harry shifted slowly, rolling the woman onto her side.

She stirred sleepily and pressed in closer. "Mmm. You smell like him."

Harry stiffened slightly at the reminder of last night. "Good morning Bellatrix."

"Good morning indeed! So what happened?" She asked excitedly.

Harry sighed softly and sat up to lean against his pillow. "What are you doing in here? What time is it?"

Bellatrix pulled herself up and crawled into his lap. "Getting information and cuddling. Nearly breakfast. Now tell me! I want to hear all the details."

"Nothing happened. We talked for a bit and made plans to meet again this morning." Harry replied impatiently, trying to push the eager woman off of him.

"Oh don't lie to me, kitten. You did something last night that made our Lord very, very happy. I could feel it through my Dark Mark, same as every single other Death Eater." She grinned, lightly trailing her hands along his bare chest. "So... tell me what happened."

"It's really none of your business."

"I fully intend to make it my business, kitten. Oh how I wish I could have been there last night to see the two of you... You should ask him to call for me next time." She whispered and tilted her head up to nibble on his ear.

Harry frowned and pushed the woman off of him. "I don't think there's going to be a next time."

He stood out of bed and quickly walked to his wardrobe. Bellatrix crawled to the edge of the mattress on her hands and knees and regarded him quizzically. "Of course there will be. I'm sure you're our Lord's new favorite now... I'm almost jealous."

Harry didn't respond. He swung open the door to the large wardrobe, startled to find a new array of clothing inside. Everything was pure black with gold- robes decorated with intricate embroidered serpents, soft dragonskin leather pants, and a wide assortment of simple black shirts. A fine pair of black boots sat at the bottom of the wardrobe and his Death Eater mask was adhered to the inside of the door. Pressing his lips together tightly, he selected some clothing and dressed quickly, ignoring the excited woman behind him. She jumped off of the bed and skipped over to him.

"Personalized robes, eh? He does like you." She pulled his hood up, draping his face in shadows. "Are you alright? You seem upset about something."

"Yes I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" He snapped impatiently.

"That's exactly why I'm confused. I always feel amazing after spending an evening with my Lord." She said, her voice now soft and worshipful. "Basking in the glory of his power and undivided attention is... well, the best thing in the world."

Harry was silent, momentarily dazing off as the memory of the delirious pleasure he had experienced returned to him. Only Bellatrix's movement roused him from the thought. She was slowly running her hands over his legs, her thumbs gently brushing his zipper.

"Didn't you enjoy being taken by the Dark Lord, kitten? Being completely dominated by the sheer force of his power?" She paused, noting Harry's body tense up yet again. "Oh... I get it. You are a rather dominate wizard yourself, aren't you? Did he make you... do something you didn't want to do?"

Harry pulled back angrily. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh Harry. Did you really think you could sleep with the Dark Lord and not be the one receiving?" She laughed. "You do know who you're dealing with, right?"

His mind briefly flashed to his short vision of Olethros taunting him. Furious tentacles of shadow-like energy sprang from Harry's body, lashing angrily around him. "Get. Out."

Bellatrix jumped back in alarm. She studied Harry in awe before ducking her head down. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

The magic surrounding Harry subsided to a faintly gleaming aura. His voice was soft and dangerous as he turned to retrieve his mask. "Leave, Bellatrix."

"Oh. Actually, I was instructed to accompany you to our Lord's private dining room." She said nervously.

Green eyes flashed impatiently through the black and gold mask. "Of course you were. Let's go then."

He strode across the room and flung the door to the hall open, Bellatrix scurrying after him.

The dining room was much smaller than the other one, nearly charmingly decorated. A series of Rococo paintings decorated the walls, a window overlooking a small courtyard pouring sunlight into the room. A small wood table sat in the center with three places set, a bouquet of wildflowers in the middle. They seemed to have arrived early as nobody else was inside.

Bellatrix seemed elated to see the additional setting at the table, taking a seat immediately. A tea set appeared with a soft pop, a porcelain teapot floating up and pouring out two steaming cups. Harry sat down and took one. The hot liquid smelled spicy and floral.

Bellatrix gently tapped the sugar bowl and four plump cubes plopped into her cup. She leaned her head on a hand and smiled softly. "Look, I know you're upset, and I suppose I understand why... But our Lord is the happiest he's been in quite some time. And when the Dark Lord is happy, we're happy. Try to reign in your temper for now and talk to him about the situation when you've cooled down."

"The situation? He _raped _me, Bella." Harry snapped, removing his hood and mask.

"Tsch. Don't call me that." She frowned and took a sip of her tea.

"Do you really think this is something I can just talk to him about? You really think he gives a shit about my happiness while he uses my body?" Harry spat angrily.

"Of course. I mean, he was going to use you as he pleased the first night no matter what, but he will respect your feelings. As long as you stay on his good side, anyway."

Harry was about to respond when the door opened. Voldemort strode into the room, looking perfectly polished in slim-fitting white robes trimmed with black. The white material matched his nearly paper white skin and hair, drawing all attention to his blood red eyes. He eyed the two pleasantly, smoothly sitting and helping himself to some tea.

"Good morning. I trust you two slept well." An assortment of breakfast foods materialized on the table as he spoke.

Bellatrix nodded happily, waiting for him to eat before loading her plate with pancakes and fruit. "Very much so, my Lord. Might I say you look particularly dashing this morning."

Voldemort smiled slightly. "Charming as ever, Bellatrix. And how about you Harry? How was the rest of your evening?"

A cross look touched Harry's face as he felt the Dark Lord's eyes study him intently. "Well enough, aside from waking up to this limitless bundle of energy."

Voldemort considered him silently for a moment before turning to Bellatrix. "I suppose you're wondering why you were both invited here. Since it seems Harry neglected to fill you in with any details regarding last night, I will enlighten you."

Bellatrix's eyes lit up as she leaned in closer, a huge grin on her face. "I'm all ears."

"You recall our former experiments some time ago, when we worked to manifest Dark magic into a tangible controllable force?"

The woman's entire disposition seemed to shift as she nodded slowly, suddenly seeming considerably more focused and businesslike. "Of course."

"Last night Harry and I combined our magic and managed to directly manipulate physical matter."

Bellatrix jumped up from her seat. "So quickly? Impossible! Wait, what phase is the moon in right now? I thought we established the only possible way to harness magic like that was at the height of the new moon! What did you do?"

Harry couldn't help but grin at Bellatrix's response. Apparently the event was indeed a significant accomplishment. He leaned back smugly, cup of tea in hand. "Well, it started as a basic training session of sorts. I brought my magic to the surface and then things... got a little heated."

"Harry lost his grasp of his magic, as beginners are apt to do, but instead of dissipating the magic caught hold of my own. Our magic seemed to then combine and heighten itself." Voldemort added smoothly. "It somehow solidified enough to create a powerful gust of air... I suspect, anyway. I was rather distracted at the time. The force was enough to extinguish fire from its hearth."

Bellatrix's eyes widened in disbelief. "You mean to say it destroyed matter?"

"Well, no. I wouldn't go _that _far. At least without more experimentation." Voldemort scoffed.

"Sorry..." Harry shook his head. "You two are losing me. I still don't exactly understand the significance of this."

Bellatrix jumped in with an explanation. "During the height of the war members of the Inner Circle worked with our Lord to discover new methods of harnessing our Dark magic. You've seen us travel in our shadow forms before?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, at the Ministry of Magic."

"Oh yes, of course. I think everybody capable of using that was there that night. Not an incredibly large amount of Death Eaters are powerful enough, but those that can will harness their Dark magic and bring it forward. With enough practice it can merge with the very cells composing their body, kind of thinning it out until the Darkness and the Death Eater's body intermingle. They become a cloud of shadow at that point, able to propel themselves forward at incredible speeds by consuming the Neutral magic in the air. It's... a lot of fun.

"But anyway, I digress. Our most recent project was to manipulate physical objects with Dark magic. There were a few minor successes... one time the Dark Lord and I successfully lifted a quill from a table-"

"During the height of the new moon?" Harry interjected teasingly.

"Yeah, moonlight seemed to interfere with our connection to the infinite void. Ah, that's just a fancy term for outer space. It seems that is where all Dark magic originates from, though it's still just a rough theory."

Harry nodded slowly. "When Olethros brought me to the Chaos Realm I'm pretty sure we were floating in space somewhere. It certainly gave off an endless vastness of the universe feel."

Voldemort and Bellatrix shared a look. "I figured as much." Voldemort said lightly.

"So why is this so important, anyway? If we can already levitate objects and extinguish fires using our wands already I can't really see the use of this."

Bellatrix laughed. "You have to think bigger than that! Imagine being able to convert Light magic! Or infiltrate the magical core of a wizard, take over their body or at least destroy their powers... with your mind! Once we had figured out shadow travel it became as natural as breathing, so if we can achieve manifestation that may become an immediate internal power as well. Dark magic is inherently capable of eating up energy. You could potentially erase something from existence with a thought! We just need to figure out how."

"Yes, Bellatrix is very idealistic." Voldemort said fondly, watching her with a nearly affectionate expression.

"But can't we already manifest our magic outside of our bodies?" Harry asked, entertained by Bellatrix's enthusiasm. Her incredible passion for the subject was striking, she seemed to be an entirely different person.

"Oh but that's completely different. That's like comparing somebody to their shadow. In fact it's exactly like that."

"Well it's certainly capable of grasping." He said lightly.

Voldemort snorted softly. Bellatrix's eyes flicked between the two men as she grinned wickedly, suddenly slipping out of her focused state of mind. "Well, it can kinda squeeze... but it can't lift. It's just interacting with other Dark magic... Ah, what exactly happened last night?"

"I'm sure the opportunity for you to see first hand will come up soon enough. You have always been my favorite research assistant." Voldemort said, much to Bellatrix's delight.

"Just imagine the potential with the three of us together." Harry said, momentarily forgetting his resentment towards the Dark Lord as he met the man's eye excitedly.

"I have been imagining, ever since I entered this room." Voldemort said with a smirk, drawing a laugh from Bellatrix. "Do you recall your magic doing anything particularly unusual last night? Anything I haven't brought up already?"

"Well, I remember Dark magic wrapping around us. I could feel it heavy in the air, pushing me against you. After a bit I could see it- or something anyway, moving fast around us. Like visible wind. And then it was just black..." Harry trailed off, deciding to not mention his brief vision.

There was a silent pause as Voldemort studied Harry intently before a dark look crossed his face. "You would do well in the future to avoid excluding any information regarding incidents with the Planars."

Harry flushed slightly, bewildered by the Dark Lord's blatant mind reading. "Sorry. It's just embarrassing, I suppose. He was... taunting me, kind of."

"Taunting you?" Voldemort asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion. "Whatever for?"

Harry shrugged. "Being weak? I submitted myself to you last night, and from what I've gathered, Olethros isn't very big on being submissive. It's not really in our nature."

Voldemort pursed his lips irritably. "That may serve to be a problem."

"I don't intend for it to be. He can scold me all he likes, but it seems he has no control over my actions. But you have taken me on as your apprentice, and as long as I wear your mark I will remain loyal to you."

"Loyal, yet resentful of being subservient to me?"

"Oh, when I used the term submissive I meant it in a more... sexual way. I have no issue with bowing before you, following your orders and all of that. I pledged my loyalty to you, and you are far more powerful and knowledgeable than I after all." Harry said, knowing now would be the time to do a bit of pandering.

The cool, suspicious look on the Dark Lord's face dropped, replacing itself with a nearly flirtatious one. "But how are we supposed to play if you won't even let me fuck you?"

Bellatrix briefly choked on a scone at the sudden change in attitude. Voldemort chuckled softly and held out a hand to both of them. "Let's join hands. I want to try something."

Bellatrix smiled curiously, tilting her head to the side as she firmly gripped their hands. "What are we going to try?"

Harry pressed his palm against the Dark Lord's, immediately feeling a delightful tingling in his skin.

"Just a simple manifestation. I want to see what happens with the three of us." Voldemort replied.

Harry could feel a soft, seductive pulse of Darkness forming a field between them. Energy filled the Dark Lord's left hand and slowly merged into Harry's. He felt the energy roll through himself and into Bellatrix's hand, who completed the cycle by passing it back to Voldemort. They continued to rotate the energy around them, passing it faster and faster each time as a pillar of pure Dark energy formed above the table between them.

Voldemort suddenly halted the movement. The pillar between snapped away from the solid surface of the table and floated upwards slightly like a shadowed soap bubble. It was slowly shifting in the air before them- about three feet tall, pure black with a reflective purple sheen.

Harry felt something stir deep inside of him, some animalistic need crying out for him to take the strange entity. The other two tightened their grip on his hands as he leaned in closer.

"It's... so beautiful." He murmured. "What do we do with it?"

Voldemort grinned, a touch of madness in his eyes. "Admire it, mostly. This is pure Dark magic- destruction incarnate. We are currently gazing into a reflection of our own inner selves."

"So it's just going to float here? Can't we use it somehow?" Harry asked, itching to break the circle and get closer to the mass. "What happens if you touch it?"

"What do you think? It's pure destruction, it'll annihilate anything it touches." Voldemort said, seeming to appreciate Harry's enthusiasm.

"Hm, sounds fun. We should put something in it." Harry grinned.

Bellatrix giggled wildly. "Oh yes! Next time let's trap something between us first!"

Voldemort shook his head in amusement. "I sit amongst children."

"What happens if one of us breaks this circle?" Harry asked, anxiously eying the mass with a hungry curiosity.

"It absorbs back into us. That's how we dismiss it."

"So... if it's a part of us anyway can we touch it without harm?"

"I suppose you can try to find out... if you can reach it before it disperses." Voldemort said jokingly.

Harry immediately jumped up. The entity jerked violently as their connection ended, vanishing with a loud pop just as Harry fell across the table. The hair on his arms stood on end as the magic rushed inside and around him, returning to its original owners. He sighed, a wild look in his eye as he sat down on the table.

"Let's go find something to use it on." He said after a moment.

Bellatrix snorted. "Right now?"

"I want to see what'll happen! Could you summon Wormtail here?" He asked, turning to the Dark Lord.

"I'm not wasting one of my followers like that. I understand that you're excited, but we still have other matters to attend to today." Voldemort said dryly, though he granted Harry an amused look.

Harry frowned stubbornly, looking down on the now empty table. It seemed the magic had cleared away their breakfast for them. "Well, let's get going then."


	11. Chapter 11- Procephalic

Longest chapter yet! Thank you to everybody that reviews! Also to everybody that's even reading this, of course, but reviews are the best. (I may or may not constantly check my email at work hoping for new ones...)

I want youz guyz'z opinions on what characters you like/dislike. It'll have an affect on upcoming main characters.

Bitumen

Chapter Eleven- Procephalic

* * *

"Don't you have somewhere to be, Bellatrix?" Voldemort asked the woman as she followed the two men down the hall.

Bellatrix's eyes widened in alarm and she ducked her head in embarrassment. "I almost forgot! Sorry, my lord."

"Understandable. You've had an exciting morning, I'm sure. We will see you later this evening."

Bellatrix nodded and shot Harry a grin before turning and quickly heading the other way. Harry watched her go before turning back to Voldemort. "Where's she off to?"

Voldemort gave him a rather dry look. "Contrary to popular belief, Bellatrix is not exclusively your babysitter. She has other responsibilities to attend to."

"Like what?"

"Don't worry about it. We will get you caught up on the current plans for the war soon enough. Now put your mask back on, we're leaving my private wing." Voldemort said as they approached a rather large door.

Harry put on his mask and pulled up his hood. Between his masked features and increased height, he was entirely unrecognizable from a few days ago. "So are we going to do some more training?"

The two crossed the threshold and entered another hallway. This one was somewhat wider and more brightly lit. They approached a large oak door as Voldemort spoke. "You will be. I will be receiving some visitors while you stay out of the way. The Malfoys are hosting a dinner party this evening, the head of every Dark family in Western Europe has been invited. Needless to say, I have some matters to deal with leading up to the event."

Numerous hovering candles flickered to life as Harry stepped inside the rather large room. Warm wood beams lined the doorway and two large windows, the walls made of large sandstone blocks. Tall wood bookshelves lined the space between the windows on one wall, the rest empty save for numerous massive family tree tapestries and some large potted plants. A large desk was positioned near the back, a dark brown bench against the wall close behind it.

"The head of every Dark family in Western Europe? Are there a lot?" Harry asked as he followed Voldemort through the long room towards the desk.

"Unfortunately not as many as you may imagine. Most Dark wizards reside in Eastern Europe, Asia and the Americas. I am anticipating just under a hundred in attendance tonight, but of course the only ones attending will be Death Eaters and those interested in meeting me."

"So is this some sort of recruiting event?"

"In a way, yes. It is also a coming out celebration of sorts... We are going to introduce you as my apprentice later on in the evening." They reached his desk and the man picked up a small envelope. He pulled out a golden ring and handed it to Harry. "You'll be wearing a glamor ring of course. It's not particularly strong, but you may change your colorings and slightly alter your face shape with it."

"Oh... What name will I be going by then?"

"I thought it would be appropriate to call you Olethros."

"Well that works, I suppose. But I'm not really... well He's not really here all the time yet." Harry admitted.

Voldemort snorted. "I know that. But He has stopped by, and He will eventually stay. You can fake it easily enough to anybody not using Legilimency, and that will do for now."

Harry flushed slightly. "Fair enough. So... what should Olethros look like..."

"Well, I suppose it depends on how you plan on presenting yourself. This will be your public face for some time and will help determine how you are received by others. Do you intend to behave more charmingly or intimidatingly?"

"I'm not sure. Both, I suppose? Can I do that?"

"I am quite confident that you could pull off anything, though your nature seems to be somewhat more mischievous and vicious than frightening and cruel. Besides, I already have that part covered."

Harry nodded slowly and thought for a moment before slipping the ring on his left index finger. His hair shortened and formed a soft halo of wavy red-gold with bangs long enough to cover his scar, the color suiting his slightly brightened emerald eyes. His skin tanned and his features sharpened slightly, giving his normal facial structure a somewhat fey-like appearance. The glamor was unfortunately not strong enough to eliminate his need for glasses.

"Well... what do you think?" He asked, a small grin revealing a series of sharp teeth.

"Mm, the teeth are a nice touch." Voldemort stepped forward and traced his fingers along Harry's new jaw.

"Yeah, I thought they would suit your tongue." Harry replied cockily, but almost immediately regretted it as the Dark Lord's touch suddenly made his head spin.

Harry blamed the increased rate of his heart to the lingering effects of his fresh Dark Mark as Voldemort captured his lips. He strongly resented his sudden need to press himself against the Dark Lord's body and found himself doing it anyway. Voldemort immediately ran his forked tongue over Harry's pointed teeth and pressed his hands firmly against his back. Harry almost gave in further before jerking back sharply.

"I haven't forgiven you for last night." He burst out angrily, his thoughts heavily dulled by the lazy cloud of Dark magic building around them.

Voldemort rolled his eyes. "I'm not looking for your forgiveness. I do want your enthusiastic participation both inside and outside the bedroom so I won't force you to do anything, within reason. We can use somebody else as a... middleman of sorts."

Harry's curiosity was obvious, so Voldemort continued. "Numerous people would be interested. Group sex is a common part of some rituals, and is not unheard of in regular settings as well. But we have work to do for now. You can save your lust for this evening."

Harry was incredibly entertained by the rather dry way Voldemort discussed sexual matters, feeling his strong compulsion drop significantly as the man walked around the desk.

"Sit there." Voldemort said, gesturing to the bench as he sat in an antique wooden chair. "Now tell me, have you ever meditated before?"

Harry sat down, taking a moment to study the large tapestry hanging beside him. "No... I can't say that I have. I didn't realize that wasn't an exclusively muggle practice."

"Learning to focus your mind is incredibly beneficial, whether one is magically-inclined or not. I will be receiving visitors for the next several hours. Use this time as an opportunity to get fully acquainted with your magic. I will let you know when you may stop." Voldemort explained coolly as he sorted through a pile of parchments and scrolls.

"Several hours? What am I supposed to do?" Harry frowned, wishing he at least had a more comfortable seat.

"Focus on nothing but your magical core. Get a feel for its shape and density. Examine it as thoroughly as possible and then see where you go from there. Time should pass quickly enough just by examining it. Just don't make me cast a silencing spell on you."

A loud knock sounded on the door and Voldemort opened it with a quick wave of his hand. A group of three huddled, terrified men approached. They dropped to their knees in terror as they reported something regarding London that seemed to infuriate the Dark Lord. They spoke of specific locations and names that meant nothing to Harry so he decided to focus on his assignment.

His magical core seemed to come easier each time he tried. He barely had to concentrate before he found himself standing before the black spherical mass. He visualized his body approaching it, holding out a hand to gently prod its surface. The magic was surprisingly solid and only gave slightly against the pressure of his hand. He pushed it once more, attempting to grip it, but the surface was oddly slippery and evaded his fingers.

Harry took a step back and examined his surroundings. He was standing in a massive room, the ceiling at least a hundred feet high. The air around him was heavy with wispy clouds, making everything strangely blurred. His core towered before him- a circular absence in the center of the cubic room, seeming to draw all of the light. An intense humming thrummed from the mass, fueled by a steady powerful pumping motion in its center. Harry wanted more than anything to see what was inside.

He quickly approached and shot his fist out into its side. There was some resistance, but his hand broke through and was enveloped in a delightfully warm substance. He easily pushed his arm and leg inside, only hesitating slightly before pressing his face into the softening membrane. His magic was nearly womb-like, embracing him with a warmth and comfort unlike anything he had ever experienced. He slipped inside and began to swim through the pitch black mass with ease.

A solid pillar met his outstretched hand at presumably the center of the sphere. Harry blindly reached out to grab hold of it as his magic suddenly roared to life. It pushed against him violently, ejecting him out of the mass in a matter of seconds. He sailed through the wispy clouds, opening his eyes just before he hit the side wall.

The first thing he saw was the Dark Lord's back. The second was a tall, dark skinned young man in all black Death Eater robes openly staring at him. Harry grinned as he met Blaise Zabini's eyes and winked.

"Is there a problem, Zabini?" Voldemort ask impatiently.

Blaise pause a moment before ducking his head gracefully. "No, my Lord. I apologize."

"Then as I was saying, I expect you to bring along any family members that may be interested in joining my cause this evening. You may inform them that somebody will be in attendance I'm sure they would be most interested in speaking with."

Blue eyes flicked to Harry once again. "They are most eager, my Lord. My two uncles will be accompanying me, they fully intend to request Markings tonight."

Harry delighted in hearing his voice once again, wishing he could say something to him without drawing Voldemort's ire. He instinctively pulsed his magic outward, hoping Blaise would sense it and recognize him through the glamor. He could nearly see a dim shadow radiate from his body and suck in towards the Dark Lord before extending out towards Blaise. The other two men's bodies seemed to act as anchors for his magic, drawing it in almost magnetically. Blaise started slightly as Harry's magic brushed against him but held his attention on the Dark Lord.

Harry sent out a few more waves of magic in an attempt to get a response, just to sadly watch as Blaise bowed to Voldemort and left the room. The Dark Lord shook his head in amusement as the door closed. "I thought I told you to meditate, not play with your magic."

Harry shrugged as Voldemort turned to face him. "I think I have a general understanding of my core now so I'm just experimenting."

"So quickly? I find that doubtful."

"Well I crawled inside of it and reached the middle. Not sure how I can get much more intimate than that."

Voldemort raised an eyebrow dubiously, obviously reading Harry's mind. He seemed to find what he was looking for when a look of astonishment flashed across his eyes. "You managed to enter it? That's... quite impressive. Now stop prodding me with your magic- it is quite distracting... That poor boy could barely hide his arousal."

Harry laughed. "His arousal? What do you mean by that?"

"Don't tell me you have no idea what effect you have on other Dark witches and wizards. Powerful Dark magic always has a certain level of sexuality behind it, and for some reason yours is unusually sensual."

He was left somewhat speechless. "Oh... well I suppose that's useful information."

"Useful indeed. You could easily control nearly any Dark person, provided they have any inclination to be attracted to you. Now be quiet. You have an hour left- I want you to reach and maintain Expansion by then."

There was a knock on the door and Voldemort let in another group. Harry frowned and tried to recollect Voldemort's explanation of the state of mind. From what he could remember it was supposed to occur when you manifest Dark magic outside of the body. Bellatrix had told him it was easy to slip into and out of once you understood the concept. Hopefully that meant it would be a simple enough to achieve without any coaching.

He slowly pulsed his magic outward, attempting to halt it as it left his body. He gritted his teeth and gripped it tightly, mentally embracing and forcing the magic still. It took a few minutes to subdue the flailing energy before it went limp and slipped around him like a blanket of tingling awareness.

The room dimmed significantly as thick clouds of shadows emanated from his body and those before him. He took the time to study each flickering, candle-like aura in the room. Three men and a woman currently stood before the Dark Lord, their eyes occasionally flashing to glance at Harry. Their individual power was visibly apparent, though mostly overshadowed by the impressive storm cloud enveloping Voldemort. He only gave them a quick glance before focusing on the swirling intricacies of the Dark Lord's magic.

Harry was actually close enough to be enveloped in the radius of the man's ambient magic, though it was thinner than the darker center enveloping Voldemort's body like a protective shield. The whole field was nearly sparkling with energy, a light crisp and acidic scent in the air. It was almost laughable how much larger the man's aura was than the other four in the room.

The darker shield of energy embracing Voldemort was much calmer than the rest, a steady thick cloud of blackness outlining his body. Harry glanced down at his own hands, happy to see a similar cloud wrapped around his skin, though the shadows were much less dense. He wondered if this tighter shadow was the physical manifestation of Expansion. He forcefully pulled more of his magic outward, this time forcing it to thicken the outline without much struggle. The increased power rushed to his head, making his body tremble with the need to stand and do something.

He instead looked up to study the four Death Eaters. They were all somewhat young, rather clean-cut and aristocratic. They had the air of up-and-coming Ministry employees. One of the men briefly glanced at Harry, looking down in embarrassment when he made eye contact. Harry grinned at the man and sent out a pulse of energy towards them.

A few of them stiffened slightly as his magic brushed against their auras. He could hear their heartbeats, smell the nervous drops of sweat on one man's forehead. He sent out another pulse, this time focusing on the woman. The magic slipped through her aura and into her body, Harry somehow following along. He felt his mind almost slip into hers similar to how his body pushed into his magical core, but was immediately rejected as he pressed into her mind. The woman stumbled slightly, drawing an irritated remark from the Dark Lord. Harry desperately wanted to try it again, but it seemed he would have to wait.

Voldemort dismissed the group and stood from his chair, stretching his arms above his head. He turned to face Harry.

"I could tell the moment you figured it out. You did very well. So well in fact I have a new assignment for you." He practically purred, holding out a hand to help Harry stand.

Harry took the outstretched hand, feeling quite dizzy as he cautiously stood. "What is it?"

Voldemort seemed to anticipate his swaying and braced Harry in his arm. "I want you to maintain Expansion for the rest of the night."

Harry's eyes widened. "I didn't know that was possible. Won't I get worn out after a while?"

"In most circumstances, yes. But you will be surrounded by Dark wizards all night so you can feed off of their ambient magic automatically. Now come on, we have to go get dressed."

"We have to change our robes? Is this supposed to be especially formal?"

"Of course, it's at Lucius's home after all. Narcissa truly outdoes herself each time- simply dazzles half of them, as if we imply they will also reach such a high level of living by becoming Death Eaters. Those wizards are next to useless really, weak and untrained- only interested in joining my cause in search of wealth."

"Why would you even want followers like that?"

Voldemort laughed softly and walked out of the room. "Eventual cannon fodder, mostly."

Harry followed quickly and strode down the hall beside him. "What do you mean by that?"

"There is a very high probability that this war will require a good deal of actual physical battle in which we will be striving for power in numbers. Have you ever considered how many Light wizards are actually capable of surviving in combat? From what I understand the percentage is surprisingly low. While it is true that there is a greater number of truly skilled Light wizards compared to Dark ones, very few others will be fighting amongst the Order and Aurors. Dark magic on the other hand is inherently destructive- most Dark wizards have a natural tendency for more of a... fighting spirit."

"We want to hurt and kill things."

Voldemort faltered slightly at the bluntness of the comment. "Precisely. Combine that with a constant compulsion spell through the Dark Mark and I have an army of power hungry men and women willing to put themselves in very dangerous situations in order to win my approval. We will use them to take down as many front line fighters as possible, and then likely use their corpses as _Inferi_."

"_Inferi_?"

"They're a favorite of mine- reanimated corpses that will fight for me."

Harry's eyes widened in excitement. "That's incredible. What sort of magic is that? Can you teach me?"

Voldemort seemed pleased with his enthusiasm. "I intend to. It's a form of Necromancy, something I may teach you depending on your ability. You will be needed in the ritual necessary to raise them, regardless."

"Depending on my ability? You doubt my capability?" Harry was nearly offended.

"No, there are just some forms of magic some wizards can't use, and Necromancy is often one. Though I admit I would be surprised if you couldn't." Voldemort stopped abruptly outside a room and stepped inside.

The room was rather unremarkable, save for a large snake coiled on the massive bed. Its brilliant white scales contrasted beautifully with the black bedspread. It raised its head sleepily and slithered off the bed.

_/Hello Nagini./ _Voldemort hissed pleasantly.

The snake slowly made its way over to the two, tasting the air with its tongue. _/Greetings master. Who is this?/ _

Harry bowed slightly to the gorgeous serpent. _/Pleased to meet you, Nagini. My name is Harry Potter./_

Nagini eyed Harry curiously. _/Ah yes, I had wondered when we would meet./_

_/You may go back to sleep if you'd like, Nagini. We are just stopping by for a moment./ _Voldemort said.

Nagini tasted the air by Harry once more before returning to the bed. Voldemort strode across the room to his wardrobe and carelessly discarded his robe on the floor. Harry sat on the bed beside Nagini as the Dark Lord pulled an all black robe on over his black undershirt and pants. He then closed and reopened the wardrobe and pulled out another black robe for Harry.

"I took the liberty of connecting our wardrobes so you'll have access to your clothing in either of our chambers."

Harry smirked and took the robe. "Why, do you think that'll be necessary all that often?"

"It is already proving to be, is it not? Now try it on."

The garment was incredibly soft. It had the same black with gold snakes pattern as his other ones but it was tailored to cling tightly to his torso. The large hood came to a point that fell back behind his head and slight bell sleeves brushed just past his fingertips. The front was fastened with three golden clasps and tapered outward to reveal his black dragonskin pants.

Voldemort studied him from head to toe. "This will do for now. First impressions are incredibly important, and this is your first time interacting with Unmarked wizards. I only wish you didn't have those awful glasses."

Harry glared at the man. "Thanks a lot. You know if they're that bad I wouldn't be opposed to having my eyes repaired."

"Unfortunately healing is not a strong suit of mine." Voldemort said dryly. "Remind me to contact Severus later. It should be a simple enough matter for him. Now come, we will be departing with the rest of the Inner Circle in my office."

Harry followed Voldemort down the hall to the study. Bellatrix immediately rushed forward to greet the two, seeming to be absolutely delighted by Harry's glamor. She wore a long sleeveless black dress composed of layers of intricate lace, her bare forearms boldly displaying her Dark Mark. The rest of the Inner Circle were chatting casually throughout the room. A woman Harry figured could only be Tonks lounged on Barty's lap on the sofa. She waved at Harry cheekily and sat up to wrap an arm around Barty's side.

Voldemort briefly explained the plan for the evening. "We will be entering Malfoy Manor as a group- I will be at the lead with Bellatrix and Harry at my side. The rest of you may spread out to mingle with the crowd, but stay within twenty feet at all times until dinner begins. At this point we will form the head table, but you are free to fall into the cadence of the meal as you see fit. Take this time to sit with as many uninitiated as possible."

Voldemort noted the look of confusion on Harry's face towards the end. "Just follow Bellatrix's lead, she will guide you through the cadence. Everybody else, please refer to Harry as Olethros while in public from now on. We do not want to reveal his former identity quite yet."

Barty snorted loudly and pulled away from Tonks. "Olethros? Like in the children's story?"

Harry eyed the man steadily and grinned, revealing his pointed teeth to the room. "Precisely."

"This is going to be fun." Bellatrix said excitedly, wrapping her arms around Harry from behind.

"Indeed. I am counting on all of you to represent me to the best of your abilities. Most of these people are already interested, or at least curious, and this evening will serve as their final deciding point. Impress them and make them feel welcome as fellow Dark wizards. We want them to understand their value to our cause, and see proof of our strength."

"So do try to avoid too much embarrassment, Bellatrix." Severus said dryly. The man actually looked somewhat striking in his elegant robes.

Bellatrix tightened her grip around Harry's chest and nibbled on his shoulder. "No promises."

Harry leaned back into her. "You heard our Lord... I'll follow your lead."

Voldemort shook his head in amusement. "Try to save it for after dinner. You are free to act as you please once we enter the private sitting room. Now let's get going."

* * *

The group arrived at a gorgeous all-white estate nestled among a lush forest. The fresh scent of seawater lingered on the gentle breeze as the front gates opened to allow them in. A long path of glimmering white cobblestone led them to the front door where they were met by a stately looking servant. The man was dressed in all white, matching the estate. He bowed deeply and opened the door without a word. They entered a large entry room, a timid looking woman in an all white uniform waiting to receive them. She curtsied and led them down a large hallway to another room before scurrying off. Voldemort entered the room with Harry and Bellatrix at his sides, the rest close behind.

Harry peered around curiously, his Expanded state still heightening his senses to an incredible level. They were standing at the top of a massive stairway leading down to a ballroom. The room was unbelievably big and made entirely of glass. Massive chandeliers holding countless candles illuminated the prism-like walls and ceiling. Many small groups of men and women stood scattered around the room, all pausing their conversations to watch the Dark Lord and his entourage enter.

Lucius, Narcissa and Draco waited at the foot of the stairs to greet them. Lucius and Draco bowed deeply, Narcissa dipping into an elegant curtsy. Voldemort nodded and stepped forward, allowing the Malfoys to greet his followers.

Harry shook Lucius's hand and shot him a grin. "Olethros. Charmed, I'm sure."

"Ah, yes. We were unsure whether you would be joining us this evening."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world. Good evening Mrs Malfoy." Harry leaned down to kiss the woman's hand and nodded to Draco before moving to stand beside the Dark Lord and Bellatrix.

All eyes were on the three of them as they swept through the ballroom. Small groups of three or four would approach and speak with him before moving on to other small groups. Everybody ignored Harry for the most part, which he was grateful for. It gave him an opportunity to experiment more with Expansion. His vision actually adapted to the heavy shadows easily enough, his magic throbbing joyfully as he made his way through crowds of various Dark auras. He glanced at Bellatrix to see she had a thick sheath of dark shadows around her as well.

She met his eye and grinned. "I see you have a basic grasp on Expansion already. Why don'tcha up the ante a little and expand your range?"

Harry immediately flared his magic, making sure to push it just a bit further out than Bellatrix's. His already sensitive senses enhanced even further, running a shiver through his whole body. She took note and laughed. "Now you have to keep it like that all night. If you let it drop you have to admit that I'm stronger than you."

Harry smirked cheekily and pushed out a bit more of his magic. "You're on."

They continued following the Dark Lord around the room, soon leaving Harry bored out of his mind. He looked around, wondering when and where dinner would be served. Soon enough Lucius announced the beginning of the meal.

Numerous circular tables of various sizes appeared throughout the room, each laden with various types of food. Harry followed Voldemort and Bellatrix to the one in the very center, the other Inner Circle members joining them from all over the room. Harry sat to Voldemort's left and impatiently waited for permission to begin eating. He sighed silently when Voldemort stood to give a speech.

The man paused as all conversation in the room halted. He stood tall and imposing, examining each and every occupant in the room calmly before speaking. "Thank you all for joining us this evening. A monumental time is beginning for wizard kind- The time for us to crawl out from underneath muggle domination and take back our rightful place in this world. We are assembling an army that will end all opposition against the rights of Dark wizards and allow us to rejoin open society. No longer will our magic be locked away in the shadows- This will be an era celebrating knowledge and power.

"Every one of you has been specially selected for invitation tonight because you show the attributes we are looking for in our new world. We value anybody with an affinity for Dark magic, but those originating from strong Dark bloodlines are the most sought after. I look forward to including you and your families amongst the ranks of true Dark wizards. I look forward to speaking with each of you individually following this meal. Come find me at your leisure in the living room."

Once finished with his speech, the Dark Lord smoothly sat and reached for a glass of wine. That was all the permission Harry needed to help himself to the feast before him. He immediately piled his plate with various meats and vegetables.

"Don't eat too much, Harry. We will be moving to many tables before the meal is over." Bellatrix said, her plate only containing some salad and a roll.

"Sounds strange. Why do we move so much?"

"It promotes interaction between all of the guests." Lucius said. "We have many different dishes available tonight as well, this allows everybody an opportunity to try whatever they wish."

Harry looked around the room, spotting a wide variety of food on the different tables. Each was laid out like a display of art- roasted pig topped with vegetables and spices, fountains of creamy cheese fondue, countless platters of sweetbreads. Alcohol seemed to be in great abundance as well. Harry ate a few forkfulls of honeyed pork and helped himself to a large glass of mead.

All eyes were on their table, making Harry feel somewhat anxious. He felt as though he needed to do something to demonstrate who he was- this was a coming out celebration of sorts for him after all. Though from the sounds of it there was still plenty more in store for the evening.

After some time Bellatrix stood, nodding at Harry for him to follow. The plates vanished and were replaced with clean ones the moment they stood. Everybody headed straight for different tables, showing no apparent pattern to the procedure. Bellatrix took Harry by the arm and walked to a five top table closer to the wall. The meal here seemed to have a Middle Eastern theme to it- all spiced meats, hummus and flatbread. Harry was pleased to see none other than Blaise Zabini and two other men already sitting. Harry's Expanded eyes took in their individual auras, noting Blaise had a somewhat impressively large one.

He immediately took the open seat beside Blaise, closing his eyes briefly to get a taste of the young man's magic. Blaise glanced at him and back to his food before double taking back to Harry. His eyes widened as he recognized Harry's vague facial features through the glamor.

He smiled slowly. "There was a rumor going around that you'd be here tonight. Olethros, is it?"

"Apparently so." Harry murmured and sipped at a glass of wine.

Two men sat to Blaise's other side. They both shared a look before intensely studying Harry without a word. The men were twins and looked somewhat similar to Blaise, though they had pale white skin.

"You will have to forgive my uncles for their manners. They are rather reserved individuals, don't get out much." Blaise explained. "This is Lorenzo and Duccio Zabini. They are brothers to my mother."

"Ah, yes. Our Lord said you two would be in attendance tonight. He says you are interested in taking the Dark Mark?" Bellatrix asked eagerly.

"That is correct." One of the identical men said. "We have come to an understanding that it would be in both parties best interest to combine certain knowledge and resources."

Harry leaned forward in excitement. "I personally am looking forward to gaining access to some information I understand belongs exclusively to the Zabinis."

The other man nodded. "And we look forward to gaining access to you."

Harry was almost flattered. "Ah, so straight-forward. I'll cut to the chase then- if you are Marked will I have personal access to your libraries and any family members with unique information regarding the Planars?"

The man that had just spoken nodded again. "Our family has spent generations waiting for you. We happily offer anything we can. Ask and it is yours."

Both men seemed entirely genuine, and they studied Harry with a particularly hungry fascination. Harry leaned back in his seat and offered the more vocal man a crooked smile. "Anything? I like the sound of that."

The man actually seemed to blush slightly, shyly glancing down at his plate as Harry continued to watch him. Bellatrix ran her foot down Harry's leg. "It's nearly time to move. We will be sure to speak with you three later this evening."

The three Zabinis seemed reluctant to part from Harry so quickly, but they all stood and bowed to the two before moving to a different table. Harry followed Bellatrix, stopping at four or so different tables over the next hour. He didn't know a single person and everybody was interested in speaking about specific political happenings he had absolutely no knowledge of. Not having anything to contribute to the conversations, he decided to focus on directing his magic around the room. It was a simple enough matter as any Dark aura acted as an anchor for his magic, helping him extend it fully across the massive ballroom.

"So, Olethros, you are the Dark Lord's apprentice? What exactly does that involve?" A man sitting beside him asked.

Harry almost missed the question as he played with his magic. He shook his head slowly to bring himself back to the real world. "My Lord is directly responsible for overseeing my education in the Dark Arts, and in return I serve him however he sees fit."

"Our Lord intends to prepare Olethros to serve as his left hand in battle. He is incredibly powerful, he just needs a bit of polishing first." Bellatrix added.

Everybody at the table looked impressed. It seemed having Bellatrix vouch for your capabilities in Dark magic was quite significant. Aside from the Dark Lord, only a handful of magical auras even came close to the magnitude of hers- and all of those were other members of the Inner Circle. It was becoming entirely apparent to him why she was Voldemort's right hand.

"So, from which family do you come from?" A rather haughty-looking woman asked.

Harry hesitated. He had no idea if there was any particular back story he was supposed to follow, and the last thing he wanted was to say something contradictory to whatever the Dark Lord may tell people. He glanced at Bellatrix, who shot a glare at the woman.

"That is really none of your business, actually." She said coldly. The others at the table exchanged looks of confusion.

"But it is, though. The Dark Lord himself promotes power through a pure Dark bloodline. For all we know, this boy could be Muggleborn." The man beside Harry said.

A dangerous look crossed Harry's eyes at the words. "Are you really questioning our Lord's judgment?"

Bellatrix laid a hand on Harry's arm and she ducked close to whisper in his ear. "Now is not the time. After the meal we will be moving to a more private room where you can do anything you want. Lucius and Narcissa will kill you if you start anything in here."

Harry frowned, only to have Bellatrix push a strawberry against his lips. His pout subsided and he took the whole fruit in his mouth just to spit out the stem on the man's plate. The occupants of the table looked entirely horrified by his manners as Bellatrix loudly laughed. It was at this time Harry decided it may be in his best interest to consume a large amount of alcohol this evening.

"I think dessert begins next round- I can't wait." Bellatrix grinned and ran her hand up Harry's thigh, entirely ignoring the other occupants of the table.

Harry filled a large glass with pino noir and drained it with a few large mouthfuls just as everybody stood from their tables. Bellatrix held out her arm and the two sauntered away to their next table without another word to the others.

"Ah yes, I was right!" Bellatrix said excitedly as they approached a table laden with golden platters stacked with small pastries, decadent cakes and pies, and plenty of decanters filled with various colored liquids. They were soon joined by Tonks and a young woman in her company, along with Severus. Bellatrix cooled considerably as Tonks took the other seat beside Harry.

"I was wondering when I would run into you two!" She said amicably before turning to greet Severus.

Harry eyed the woman beside Tonks suspiciously. Her magic was impressively strong and felt strangely familiar, but he had never seen her before. She was young, probably still a student in fact, with short brown hair and wide brown eyes. Bellatrix pulled him from his examination by passing him a large glass of honey-colored liquor, which he accepted happily.

He was helping himself to a large slice of pound cake when the young woman spoke. He immediately recognized her voice, but the identity slipped from his mind. Setting his food down, he leaned forward slightly to study her face.

"I'm sorry... but do I know you? You seem very familiar." He said.

Shock seemed to cross her face as she shook her head. "No, sorry. I don't believe we have met."

Tonks laughed and pulled the girl against her. "Aw come on, you can tell him. I wanna see the look on his face anyway."

"Why..? Do we know each other?" She asked, obviously still reluctant.

"I think we do. You must be the other new inductee, which means you're a Hogwarts student, correct?"

The girl nodded slowly. "Yes, going on my sixth year."

Harry grinned. "Me too. Well, if I go back anyway. I doubt that's going to happen. I want to try to guess who you are then... you must be under a glamor of some sort because I certainly don't recognize you."

"But you are far too old to be a sixth year!"

"Yes, we may get to that part eventually. What House?"

The girl was quiet for a moment before answering. "Gryffindor"

"How unexpected. Well that certainly narrows it down. A Gryffindor girl from my year with a notable amount of magical power. That rules out... well, all but one I suppose. Though I have a hard time believing what that means... Hermione." Harry said confidently.

The redness of the girl's face was all the answer he needed. "I suppose you could have guessed Parvati."

"Oh please, anybody that interested in Divination has to be mostly useless." Harry said flippantly. The remark seemed to catch Severus off guard, actually drawing a laugh from the silent man.

Hermione laughed as well. "I do suppose you have a point there. But now you have me at a disadvantage. If you could guess so easily, I'm sure I can determine who you are as well. Your age is really throwing me off though. That must be a rather complex glamor."

"Well I'll be sitting here recovering from the shock of your identity. Let me know if you need a hint." Harry said as he poured himself another glass of wine.

"I would ask for your House, but that would make it too easy." Hermione said cockily. "Just give me a minute and I'll figure it out."

Tonks seemed incredibly amused by their exchange. She leaned in close and whispered something in Hermione's ear that made the girl blush furiously. Harry noted that the two seemed very close, and Severus was surprisingly friendly towards them as well.

After a few minutes Bellatrix took a break from consuming her desserts to announce that they were almost out of time. It seemed Hermione was just about to speak when Voldemort stood from his seat across the room. Every Death Eater immediately finished eating and began to make their way out of the ballroom. Hermione lightly touched Harry's arm on their walk.

"I know who you are. I'm mostly sure anyway. Can we talk later?" She asked quietly, her face a blend of confusion and triumph. "I can't believe I didn't immediately recognize you... that glamor isn't even that good."

Harry held up his hand to show the glamor ring. "I believe this was intended to hide me from people that weren't specifically looking for _me _in the first place. I'll find you at some point tonight."

Hermione nodded, gravely watching as Harry sped up to fall in step with Bellatrix at the head of the group.

* * *

They entered a richly decorated den. A massive fire crackled in a hearth with numerous antique chairs and sofas positioned around it in a half circle. Behind the sitting area was a space for larger groups to gather while standing, a large bar with a bartender waiting in the corner. Harry joined Voldemort on a luxurious loveseat in the sitting area while Bellatrix wandered off into the crowd.

The Dark Lord shot him an amused glance. "Nice of you to join me. How was your reunion with your long-lost boyfriend?"

"My apologies, my Lord. If I didn't know any better I would think you were jealous." He murmured.

"Me, jealous?" Voldemort smirked and possessively pulled Harry closer. "You are aware that you are mine, no?"

Harry flushed slightly and pulled back as Lucius, Narcissa and Draco approached. "Ah, shall I get us some drinks?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Draco is perfectly capable of being our cup-bearer tonight." Voldemort said, glancing at Draco irritably when he didn't immediately jump up to head to the bar. Draco paled and hurried away.

"Again, thank you for joining us this evening, my Lord." Lucius said with a bow and then nodded towards Harry. "And I am most pleased to see you as well, Olethros."

"Thank you for having us. You have a beautiful home." Harry said pleasantly.

Narcissa actually blushed. "Thank you, you flatter me."

The two Malfoys took a seat near them as three men approached the Dark Lord. They dropped to their knees and crawled towards Voldemort, touching his feet with their foreheads. Voldemort almost seemed irritated by their overwhelming subservience and waved his hand impatiently.

"Yes, yes. You may stand. What are your names?"

The three men seemed incredibly nervous as they introduced themselves and explained their desire to join the Death Eaters. Harry could barely stop himself from rolling his eyes as they scraped before the Dark Lord. Draco approached with two large glasses of strong-smelling liquor in hand. Harry took the glass appreciatively and the Dark Lord gestured for the blond boy to sit on the small ottoman beside their small sofa. The drink was incredibly strong with a hint of spice and cedar. Figuring he still had quite a long night ahead of him, he finished it quickly before leaning over to tell Draco to get him another. The three men were soon replaced by another group, this one just as pathetically subservient. Harry irritably waited for them to finish groveling, his head now swimming with alcohol.

Finally Blaise and his uncles approached. The two men carried themselves with a refreshing amount of dignity even as they bowed deeply before Voldemort. It seemed quite clear, at least to Harry, that they were only converting in order to gain access to him. Harry wondered exactly how useful they would prove to be, if they even had any new information for him. It was entirely possible that he had already exceeded the extent of the Zabini's knowledge of Planars. He hoped to be able to visit before Hogwarts resumed for the year, so he could at least spend some time with Blaise.

The Dark Lord spoke with them for some time regarding the responsibilities and expectations he had for his Death Eaters. Harry quietly excused himself to join Blaise on the sofa beside the fireplace.

Blaise clasped his hands before him and leaned away. "So... you and Bellatrix, then?"

"Where did you hear that?" Harry asked, turning his back to conceal their conversation from the rest of the room.

"I didn't have to hear it- you two were inseparable earlier. I'm surprised she's not sitting on your lap right now."

Harry sighed. He had not been looking forward to this conversation but wanted to get the topic over with. "Alright, I'm going to be completely honest so try to not get too upset. I've come to the realization that I have no interest in a monogamous relationship. Lust is a natural companion to Dark magic, and I intend to fully embrace that. As for Bellatrix and I, we are the left and right hands of the Dark Lord and were instructed to stay together throughout the meal. We are quite close, but certainly not in a relationship."

He paused to check Blaise's reaction. The young man was quiet for a moment, staring off into the fire beside them. "Fair enough, I suppose... So, what about us?"

Harry shrugged. "That's up to you. I'm incredibly fond of you and I really look forward to training and fighting alongside you, whether you want me there or not. And I think you're exceptionally attractive, so there's that."

Blaise still seemed quite upset. "So who else is there?"

"Ah, well Bellatrix was first... Are you sure you want to hear this?" He asked, only continuing when Blaise nodded. "Then the Dark Lord and I, though we've come to an agreement that we need to find somebody submissive to share... That's about it so far."

Blaise stared at Harry numbly. "You and the Dark Lord? Isn't he old enough to be your grandfather?"

"Oh, don't tell me you don't feel it too. If he were to tell you to do anything you would obey in a heartbeat. I know you would because I would too."

"I... suppose you're right." Blaise murmured. "But Bellatrix? Isn't she completely insane?"

"Well, yeah. But in a fun way. We actually get along very well." Harry shrugged, wanting to change the subject. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was a side effect of maintaining Expansion for so long, but he desperately wanted to fuck with somebody.

"I learned something new today. Care to test it with me?" He continued.

"Er, maybe? What is it?"

"Watch this." Harry turned and scanned the room for Draco, who was still sitting on the ottoman beside the Dark Lord with a glass of liquor in hand. Harry waved him over and the young man apprehensively approached. "Hello Draco. Come sit with us."

Draco hesitated but sat. "Did you need something... sir?"

Harry immediately shot his magic out towards him, his grin widening as the boy swayed under its embrace. "No need to be so formal. Blaise and I were just discussing how adorable you are. We have a little wager regarding your sexual orientation... I was hoping perhaps you would enlighten us."

Draco turned bright red and ducked his head down. "I, ah- well I suppose I prefer men... but I will marry whoever the Dark Lord or my family requires me to in order to strengthen the bloodline."

Increasing his magical hold, Harry gently ran his hand across Draco's cheek. "Mm, yes. I had a feeling."

Blaise shifted uncomfortably. "Where exactly are you going with this?"

"I was informed earlier today that I have a certain level of charm that I was previously unaware of. Apparently I can make some people do practically anything I want them to. Would you say that's about right Draco?" Harry asked lightly, pulling Draco closer to him.

Draco nodded, seeming quite dazed. "I... well you... you feel good. Something deep in me moves when I feel your magic. Something that tells me whatever you want is good and right and what I need."

"What sorts of things can you make him do?" Blaise asked, suddenly seeming quite interested.

"Answer the question, Draco." Harry murmured, running his hand through silky blond hair.

Draco closed his eyes and pressed himself against Harry's touch. "A- Anything you want."

"Can you affect anybody like this?" Blaise asked.

Harry considered the question for a moment. "Well, no. They have to be Dark, and apparently the weaker-willed they are the better. I think they have to be sexually attracted to men as well."

"So could you do this to me?"

Harry dropped his hand from Draco and turned to meet Blaise's eyes. "Why would I want to do that? I actually respect you."

Blaise gave him a somewhat doubtful look. "Well... thanks. I want you to try to do it though- I want to see if I can resist you."

"If you're sure..." Harry grimaced slightly and flared his Dark magic outwards to include Blaise in the radius. Draco moaned softly and pulled in closer until he was practically in his lap.

Blaise closed his eyes and pressed into Harry as well. "Mm, he's right. You do feel good."

Harry smiled softly and captured Blaise's lips. Blaise moaned deeply and wrapped his arms around him, immediately opening his mouth to allow Harry's tongue inside. Harry could practically feel the jealousy rolling off Draco as he pulled back. "So... what can I make you do?"

"I... ah. I don't know... I just want you so badly." Blaise mumbled, crushing himself against Harry.

"Well, why don't you two demonstrate your enthusiasm on each other? Then perhaps we can move on from there." Harry suggested, not sure if they would even go for the idea.

Draco immediately crawled onto Harry's lap and attacked Blaise's lips with his own. Blaise allowed him for a brief moment before pulling away. "Agh, no. Sorry, not that desperate."

Harry laughed loudly and pushed Draco off of him. "And now we know. Go get us some drinks, Draco."

Draco immediately scurried off to obey. Harry retracted his magic, now barely maintaining Expansion. "Anyway, back to the previous conversation. I really do hope you're not upset about my polyamorous tendencies... though I understand if you are."

Blaise shrugged. "I don't know. The names you listed off shocked me more than anything. I can't imagine being anything but terrified by the Dark Lord or Bellatrix."

"Well I started out absolutely hating Bellatrix. You know she killed Sirius, yeah?" Harry said, continuing when Blaise nodded. "Then she kept me captive in her room. Actually chained me up for the first few nights. I still haven't entirely gotten over being pissed at her for that, but the woman has kinda grown on me. She's completely mad but you would never guess how intelligent she actually is. Are you attracted to women at all?"

"No, not really." Blaise shook his head, obviously not interested in hearing the virtues of his new rival.

"Ah, to each their own. But anyway, our Lord is an entirely different story. He... leaves no option other than total submission when he sets his sights on you. Apparently he beds many of his followers soon after they're marked. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if he only hasn't summoned you yet because he's been sidetracked by me."

Blaise frowned. "You don't really sound like you enjoy it that much."

"Oh no, I do. His magic has the same affect on me that mine has on you. He just... well, he doesn't take no for an answer." Harry said quietly before returning to his previous attitude as Draco approached with three glasses. "Oh Draco, did I say you could have a drink as well?"

The blond ducked his head down. "Sorry, I just thought-"

Harry waved him off. "I'm joking, I'm joking. You really are pathetic. Oh, I forgot to ask earlier- you know who I am, right?"

Draco scowled and handed the two their drinks. "Yes, my father warned me. I just don't understand how you're doing this to me."

"Because my magic naturally draws you in. And because deep inside of you, you want to be treated this way. I think you actually like it." Harry grinned and sipped at his drink.

Draco ignored the insult. "Well I just thought I should let you know that the entire room is talking about you right now."

Harry grinned and leaned into Blaise's side. "Well of course they are. I'm sure they all have to gossip about the Dark Lord's new apprentice."

"I'm sure it doesn't help that you're making out with two boys directly next to the main source of light in this room. I would imagine that would draw some attention." Blaise said, suddenly sounding somewhat uncomfortable.

"I do believe you two were doing the majority of the making out, actually. I've hardly even touched Draco." Harry laughed. "Anyway, what are they saying about me?"

"They all shut up when they noticed me nearby, but mostly just wondering who you are from the sound of it. I think those teeth tipped everybody off on the fact that you're using a glamor."

"Makes sense. I'm thinking about finding a way to keep them, actual-" Harry stopped mid-sentence as he felt Voldemort's eyes on him. He looked up to see the man gesture him over and quickly stood. "It seems I am needed. I'll catch up with you later Blaise."

He gracefully bowed to the Dark Lord before joining him on the sofa. Voldemort regarded him with an amused expression before speaking. "I see you are enjoying yourself."

"Of course. I can't imagine I could say the same for you though."

"No, unfortunately not. The real festivities will be beginning shortly though."

Harry grinned excitedly. "Festivities? What do you mean?"

"Now that all of the uninitiated have departed we will be holding an actual meeting. I have some punishments to dole out... I was wondering if you would be interested in helping."

"Absolutely. Do I get to kill anybody?"

Voldemort chuckled. "Not tonight. You'll have to keep it to light maimings mostly. Just make it memorable- your main goal for now is to get people talking about you."

"I don't think that will be a problem."

"I didn't think so."


	12. Chapter 12- A Modest Proposal

This chapter got ridiculously long but a lot of ground needed to be covered. Hopefully a temporary change in perspective will help give a bit more insight on the basic nature of Dark magic.

Bitumen

Chapter Twelve- A Modest Proposal

Hermione nervously followed Tonks into a large, dimly lit dungeon. The air was damp and cold, with walls composed of large dingy gray bricks. Floor grates were spread out throughout the room, and Hermione wondered if the multiple metal shackles hanging from the walls had ever been used. The room was an overly stereotypical dungeon, like something from a movie, almost to the point of doubt regarding its use until this very night. The Malfoys did like to make an impression.

There were perhaps thirty other people mingling in small groups, all nervously waiting for the final meeting to begin. Hermione wanted to fall to the back and lean against one of the damp walls, but Tonks maintained a firm grip on her forearm. She shot a furtive glance at the woman, who was happily chatting with Severus and a few other men. Tonks seemed entirely unaffected by the nervousness touching nearly every other occupant in the room. It was almost as if she was oblivious to the upcoming event.

Hermione stayed quiet and nodded occasionally to appear polite, a quite laughable idea considering her company. The past year had been such a whirlwind of change. First one of her best friends abruptly broke away from their group and later even changed Houses. And then Severus Snape of all people seemed to show a sudden interest in her, occasionally inviting her to stay after class to discuss Potions. She hadn't told a single one of her friends about this, knowing any affiliation with the Slytherins was just asking for alienation.

There was something strangely appealing about sitting near the man and discussing schoolwork. Lately she could somehow feel his magic, unlike anything she had ever experienced before. It seemed to shimmer around him like translucent shadows, filling the air with a rather pleasant tingling sensation. Not a single book in the main library described anything like it, and she figured it would be easier to ask him directly than get a pass to the Restricted Section. When she finally did, the faintest smile crossed the man's face before he denied having any idea what she was talking about.

The biggest change of all happened over the winter holidays. She had originally planned to go on a short vacation with her parents, only to cancel when she heard the news about Ron's father. Christmas at the Grimmauld Place was entirely depressing without Harry there. While she didn't really understand what exactly caused him to suddenly change so drastically, she was starting to see why he stopped speaking to Ron. She was still technically dating the boy entirely because she had no idea how to end things without making herself an enemy of the entire Gryffindor house. It was frustrating- she felt trapped, yet guilty and horrible for feeling that way towards somebody who just lost his father. She found herself thankful that he wasn't in the mood for physical contact of any sort over the holiday as the mere thought of being near him was entirely repulsive. The worst part was, she had no idea why.

Every member of The Order had gathered to mark Arthur Weasley's death, including Nymphadora Tonks. Hermione nearly shivered recalling the predatory look that flashed in the woman's eyes the moment she spotted Hermione. She had the same strange shadowed aura as Snape, so far the only other person Hermione had seen with it. It hung about her like a cloud of enchanted perfume, a deliciously seductive scent that drew her in magnetically. Tonks always happened to be wherever Hermione was, always eager to cheer her up by giving herself cat ears and whiskers or suddenly turning into a wrinkled old man. Between Harry's detention at Hogwarts and Ron being in mourning, Hermione had little to do for the whole two weeks, so she happily accepted the woman's attention.

The woman was a fascinating mystery. She had an amazing power, but her charm and easy-going nature won Hermione over the most. She was everything Hermione could only dream of being- confident, funny, and endearingly optimistic. Best of all, Tonks always sought Hermione out and made her feel fun and interesting. For once she was more than just the irritating know-it-all.

Tonks would often sit beside her in the living room, close enough for the strange magic to wrap around her. It always filled her with a strange tingling sensation that was so comforting and pleasant it drew her closer almost automatically. There were a few occasions where Hermione would find herself leaning against the woman without thinking about it, even falling asleep on her once. She was horribly embarrassed when it happened, pulling back immediately and apologizing as soon as she woke up, but Tonks just laughed and kissed her on the cheek. The unexpected touch of the woman's lips ignited a sudden burst of desire inside of her- which she promptly analyzed as being some strange fluke and decided to ignore.

Not quite a week into the holiday, Hermione was doing some assigned reading in the library when Tonks and Severus entered. She found it somewhat odd to see the two of them together, staying quiet when they seemed to not notice her curled up in an armchair in the far back corner of the room. Tonks cast what seemed to be a small but incredibly powerful warding spell over the room. Hermione flushed in embarrassment, worried that the two were in some secret relationship and looking for a bit of privacy. She almost stood up to announce her presence when she heard something that shocked her into silence. They were talking about her.

Her face paled as she listened to them discuss her increasingly Dark aura, how it would be possible to approach her about it by the end of the year, if not sooner. Apparently they had intentionally been exposing her to their own magic to see her reaction, and she had reacted favorably. Severus was even stopping by Grimmauld Place every few nights mostly just to check on Tonk's progress with her. Hermione shook with anger, suddenly this new friendship she had formed with both of them made so much more sense. She had to go find Dumbledore and tell him, or at least another Order member.

"So Hermione, what do you think of all this?" Tonks suddenly asked with a raised voice.

Hermione dropped her book in surprise, taking a moment to regret losing her page before snapping back to the situation. "Er... You knew I was in here?"

"Dear Lord, woman! Why didn't you tell me somebody else was here? Especially her!" Severus snapped.

"You honestly didn't see her? She was right there in the corner! I thought you were just going along with me to mess with her a bit." Tonks laughed.

"Mess with me? So none of that was true, was it?" Hermione asked nervously.

Tonks grinned and slowly walked towards the girl. Her entire body melded into a different form- one that was slimmer, nearly androgynous, with short black hair. The shadowy aura around her intensified significantly, its range suddenly extending multiple feet. Hermione's eyes widened in a combination of shock and some other strange unidentified emotion as Tonks sat on her lap, letting the magic entirely envelope the girl.

She leaned in close to purr in Hermione's ear. "Why don't you tell me?"

Hermione shrank back in her seat, fighting the urge to draw closer to the woman. She shook her head slowly. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I don't understand how you found this method to be even somewhat appropriate, Nymphadora." Severus said dryly as he walked towards them. "I suppose it's too late now. I must apologize for my colleague. You are a smart girl, Hermione. I know you intend to head straight to Dumbledore and tell him what you heard. I only ask that you listen to me and take some time to consider my words first."

Hermione closed her eyes briefly as the other woman's magic seemed to caress her. She wasn't sure what came over her, but she cautiously nodded. "I'm listening."

Severus continued. "Over the past few months we have noted an influx of Hogwarts students developing the signs of being inclined towards the Dark Arts. Most of them are Slytherins, which naturally is not too unusual, but there are a few other more notable students- yourself included. We have come to the conclusion that you would be an incredibly valuable asset to our cause and intended to offer you the opportunity to receive the best resources and training for any up-and-coming Dark witch."

Severus stopped, allowing Hermione a moment to mull over this new information. "An influx? What do you mean by that? Are a larger number of young wizards developing Dark magical cores than usual?"

Severus laughed lightly, seeming to be entertained by Hermione's prioritizing of this new information. "Generally there are a few truly Dark wizards that graduate from Slytherin, but it is incredibly rare to find any in any other House. This year alone we have identified a number from both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. We really have no actual idea of what is causing this."

"I _told_ you! It's from the Dark Lord returning! This is just further proof that magic is on our side this time around!" Tonks said, eagerly bouncing in Hermione's lap as her hair flashed a rather excited cyan.

Hermione's eyes widened at the mention of the Dark Lord. "So when you say you want to offer me the opportunity for training as a Dark witch..."

"We want you to join the Death Eaters, yes. I understand your disinterest in such an idea- please hear me out before making a decision." Severus began. Noting that Hermione was listening intently, he continued. "First of all, it is simple enough to determine the affiliation of your own magic. Before you go to sleep tonight, focus on your magical core- a term I am most happy to know you are familiar with already. With enough practice it will be simple enough to visualize it as a physical entity. Your core's color and general atmosphere should be sufficient proof. The fact that you can see and feel both mine and Nymphadora's Dark magic is also a sign.

"I understand that you do not need to join the Death Eaters just because you are a Dark wizard. In fact that was the exact logic I had for quite some time. Unfortunately Dark calls to Dark, making the temptation of the Dark Lord's power incredibly hard to deny. Given the amount of power you have locked inside of you, it may be entirely impossible for you to participate in the war unless you are with us. While the concept of obeying the Dark Lord is likely very unappealing to you, I assure you that the benefits are entirely worth it."

"And here I thought you were a spy for the Order. We all had our doubts regarding you, but I always believed you were good." Hermione said quietly, having a hard time believing what she was hearing. Yet she couldn't help but feel incredibly curious.

Tonks laughed loudly. "Ah, the ever constant battle between 'good' and 'evil'! I love this part. Tell me Hermione, you're so smart you may be able to answer this. What exactly happens to us all when we die?"

Hermione blinked in confusion. "Well... Nobody can really say for sure. There have been studies regarding the existence of a human soul, which has turned up practically nothing. The only conclusive evidence is that our magic is released into the air shortly following death where it combines with the wild magic around us. As for the rest of us, nobody really knows. I personally tend to think that that's it, once we die we are gone."

"Alright, and if that's the case, why exactly do you feel like you have to follow all of these rules society has laid down for us? Why do you have to be a good guy when you'll get the same outcome regardless?"

"Well, what is humanity without rules and standards? We would be little more than animals."

Tonks licked her lips and grinned. "And what exactly is so wrong with being an animal? To dominate the weak and take whatever you want, to live a life of pleasure and comfort because you're powerful and deserve it... You will never truly feel alive until you experience the thrill of defeating your opponent in combat."

"But if this life is the only one we get, who has the right to cut short anybody else's?"

Severus cut in. "We are getting off-track, and with limited time. I believe Tonk's explanation is somewhat misleading. She is not speaking specifically of murder so much as holding power over others. Anybody that allows you to dominate them deserves it- that is the basis of every Dark wizard's belief."

"I do hope you're not trying to tell me that Dark wizards don't torture and kill people because I've seen plenty of evidence. Like at the Quidditch World Cup when your friends tortured those poor muggles."

Tonks shrugged. "We're not saying some of us aren't total assholes. That was before our Lord returned anyhow. He keeps us on a very tight leash now."

Severus nodded. "This is very true. Those with Dark magic have a natural tendency towards violent acts because that is what our magic is designed for. We all have inside of us a destructive force that constantly begs to be used, and rewards our pleasure sensors when we do so. It makes our magic very addictive and makes it incredibly simple to get caught up in the moment and cause much more harm than we may otherwise intend. Many choose to embrace this, though there are plenty of Dark witches and wizards that stick to a more secluded and scholarly sort of life. I would imagine something like that may be more appealing to you."

"I suppose so... But I would never join the Death Eaters. I could never betray all of my friends like that." Hermione said stubbornly.

* * *

And yet, just a few months later, she stood beside Tonks as the crowd of Death Eaters waited for the meeting to begin. It seemed she hadn't betrayed all of her friends, in fact one had beaten her to that point. Every head looked up anxiously as the door swung open. The Dark Lord smoothly entered, that Lestrange woman and her former best friend close behind. The sheer amount of magic rolling off of the trio was enough to make her head spin. Hermione could only assume that she was not the only one affected this way. It made her antsy, feeling her magic dance under the restraint of her skin. Her entire being craved release- to project her own power into the room to join in with theirs.

Tonks wrapped her arm around Hermione's side and pulled her in close. "Alright. This is going to start out horrible for you. Our Lord always begins his meetings with the punishments. It's really not pleasant for anybody except the Enforcers- who seem to be Bellatrix and Olethros tonight."

"Olethros?"

Tonks nodded towards Harry. "That's his name. It is the only name _anybody_ will be calling him unless the Dark Lord says otherwise. Man, this is probably his first meeting and he has to be up there in front of everybody... How nerve wracking."

Hermione knew she had heard that name before, but continued listening. Tonks ran her hand up Hermione's back up to her temporarily short hair, twirling her fingers in it as she continued. "Anyway, after that nasty business we will move onto the general announcements and other boring things before moving on to the part where he informally dismisses everybody except the people he wants to reward for pleasing him. Generally anybody interested in staying is allowed to. Then we'll probably go back to that sitting room with the bar and the real party will begin. We just have to get through this part first, ok?"

Hermione gave Tonks a nervous but appreciative smile. She watched as the three stood before the crowd and examined them all. Bellatrix Lestrange looked wild with excitement while Harry coolly stood with his hands clasped behind his back, still under the guise of the glamor ring. His eyes scanned the crowd, briefly meeting her own with a crooked smile before continuing his sweep of the room.

The Dark Lord then introduced him to the crowd. A brief wave of murmuring swept the room as their Lord continued on to explain that Olethros was his new apprentice. Hermione figured she shouldn't be that surprised. There was no reason to keep Harry Potter alive unless he was under Voldemort's direct control. She had been entirely shocked to even learn that he survived, especially considering all of the news lately.

An article had been published in the Daily Prophet not even two days ago detailing the increasingly doubtful possibility of rescuing Harry Potter. It was common knowledge that he had been captured by Death Eaters about a month ago during the battle at the Ministry of Magic. Everybody assumed he was languishing in some cell, perhaps waiting for the right moment to be executed before the world, or possibly used in some horrific Dark ritual.

Hermione had already known Harry was one of the other Gryffindors that had spontaneously developed Dark magic, but she never would have imagined he would agree to join the Death Eaters so quickly. His betrayal made her feel somewhat less guilty about her own.

She was pulled from her reverie as a small group of Death Eaters dropped to their knees before the Dark Lord. It seemed they had done something to displease him, as they were all weeping at his feet. Harry smoothly stepped forward and put one under a _Cruciatus_, Bellatrix attacking another with the same. She winced despite herself as the Death Eaters writhed on the floor in agony. This was, other than the marking ceremony, her first Death Eater meeting.

It shook her slightly to realize this was the first time she even considered the innocent life she took during the previous night's ceremony. She knew she could mostly attribute the ease at which she had attacked the muggle to the extreme density of Dark magic in that small chamber, as it seemed to have an incredibly intoxicating effect on her and the other initiates. Every book she could get her hands on regarding Dark magic enforced the point that any sufficiently talented Dark wizard would find murder a rather easy taboo to overcome, and that it would become an act they greatly relished. She had to admit to the truth of the statement. The fact that Pansy, vicious as the girl was, couldn't bring herself to follow through when Hermione could did cause some concern, but she hardly knew that girl's individual situation. Regardless, it seemed that watching and participating in violent acts were entirely different matters.

Hermione had tried her best to avoid Tonks the day following their talk in the library, but she seemed to be everywhere Hermione went. They always took their meals and spent time in the living area with the rest of the group, and it wasn't like she could hide out in her room all day without causing some concern. She knew she should tell Dumbledore about the two, but being presented with a sudden new outlook on her life caused some hesitation.

She had attempted to view her magical core immediately after leaving the library that previous night, and the ease at which she accessed a clear mental picture of a wide mass of black energy left no doubt as to what she really was. Her inner magic was breathtaking- it spread before her like an ocean of still black water, looking deceptively smooth and welcoming despite its actually impenetrable shell. She withdrew from her mind with an entirely different perspective on her place in the world. It was as if a switch had flipped in her mind and she was finally aware of the world around her. At first she was frightened and a bit angry, not wanting to accept this complete change of identity, but then she considered all of the new branches of magic suddenly opening up to her. Suddenly she realized that she wanted this.

She had read brief mentions of some various Dark magic branches- mainly Necromancy and Blood Magic, in books that seemed more determined to dissuade than educate the reader. They only described the bare minimum regarding the magic itself, making sure to illustrate in detail the level of pain and suffering required from a human sacrifice in order to achieve some of the more advanced works. Now feeling considerably more open-minded, she figured there had to be two sides to it, as there was no way an entire aspect of magic was completely dedicated to horrible acts of violence. Thankfully she had just the person to ask about such things.

Severus didn't arrive at Grimmauld Place until late that night so Hermione had to wait until after bedtime to catch him alone. A small group had gathered in the den following dinner, all quietly chatting and sharing memories of Arthur. Feeling somewhat guilty regarding the selfishness of her desire to have everybody else leave, she continuously shot him furtive glances until the room slowly emptied. He seemed pleased yet entirely unsurprised when she nervously approached.

"Did you need something Miss Granger?" He asked as she stood to cross the room in order to sit beside him on a sofa.

"Is this an alright place to talk?" She nervously eyed the slumbering portraits above her.

"You needn't worry about any portrait in this home. They were all once affiliated the same as us and have no love for outsiders. It is fine to speak as long as you monitor your wording."

"I suppose that makes sense. I... I did what you suggested last night. I was able to mentally view my magical core and it seems you and Tonks are right." She sighed at the end, feeling as if a huge weight was lifted from her shoulders at the admittance.

The man eyed her closely for a moment, seeming to take in the air around her. "And..?"

She haltered, caught off guard by his lack of input. "Well, I suppose my curiosity has been piqued."

The man remained silent so she continued. "My main question for now is where do I find some proper books? I highly doubt Flourish and Blotts has much on the subject... And I would have come across anything useful at Hogwarts by now unless it's Restricted."

He chuckled quietly. "Now that is something I can help you with. I would like to offer you the opportunity for private tutoring sessions. If it is at all possible I would recommend you look into transferring into my Offensive Magic class as well."

"I would probably have to drop some classes. I don't really intend on ever participating in combat of any sort though."

"It isn't necessary of course, but it's always good to be prepared. The tutoring will be a requirement however. It will take place after hours in order to cooperate with your regular class schedule, all being entirely legit and approved by the Headmaster. We will begin by covering all of the basics and then move on from there."

"Approved by the Headmaster? What will he think we'll be doing?"

"Why, Potions of course. I have recognized a talent inside of you that has remained hidden due to the larger classroom environment not suiting your learning style for hands-on subjects. We will be able to work on individual projects where I may properly demonstrate detailed techniques."

Hermione laughed, thoroughly entertained by the measures Severus was taking in order to keep their real intentions hidden. "Potions has always been a weaker subject of mine..."

"Then it is settled. I will provide reading material from my private library for you. I do hope you don't mind a great deal of independent study."

Hermione felt a thrill run through her she hadn't felt since the day she opened her Hogwarts acceptance letter. "I wouldn't want it any other way."

* * *

"Hey come with me. I have something to show you."

Hermione looked up from her textbook in surprise. She hadn't heard anybody come in, yet Tonks was now leaning against the frame of her bedroom door with her arms folded. Setting her book to the side, she stood up from her bed. "What is it?"

Tonks grinned mischievously. "A surprise."

Hermione allowed the woman to take her hand and lead her down the hall. They stopped outside of an unremarkable door, which Tonks swung open unceremoniously. "This bedroom once belonged to my lovely Great Aunt Walburga."

They entered side-by-side, the massive glass dressing table immediately catching Hermione's eye. "So what did you want to show me?"

"Only the best privacy ward on a room I have ever seen. This spot is completely soundproof, and anybody that enters it is undetectable through absolutely any means. Neat, huh?"

Hermione closed the door behind her, completely baffled by why Tonks would find this so exciting. "So did you bring me here to preach more about joining the Death Eaters or something?"

Tonks shrugged and fell backwards onto the bed. "I dunno, I thought we could have some girl talk. I figure you spend so much time with guys... plus you might have some questions about what me and Severus were talking about before. Whatever you want, really. The amount of homework you do was bumming me out so I only felt it was right to distract you."

"Oh, well I suppose a bit of a break couldn't hurt." Hermione smiled and sat down beside the now green haired woman. "I don't really know how to do... girl talk, was it?"

"Good then I'll get right to it- are you a virgin or what? I mean, you're dating Ron and I pegged him to be a total philanderer but you still seem so uptight sometimes. I guess I'm just wondering what's up with that."

Hermione blushed bright red, feeling the pressure of Tonk's eyes on her. "A _philanderer_? How in the world did you ever get that impression of him?"

Tonks grinned widely and poked her side. "Takes one to know one, I suppose."

"Oh... well yes, to answer your question. He's been a bit pushy regarding the subject lately but I just haven't really felt... ready?"

"You say that like you aren't sure yourself. Maybe you just aren't attracted to him." Tonks said lightly, lying on her back as she examined the canopy above them.

"Well... In all honesty, I'm really not. He's actually been incredibly irritating lately. I just don't know how to break up with a friend." Hermione sighed in frustration.

"Ah yeah, most Light wizards tend to have that affect on Dark ones. You can't even see their magic but it's like a constant irritating buzzing in the back of your head when you're near it. It'll drive you to the point of straight up murderous rage if you let it get to you. I've always wondered if it's the same for them too. As for the whole friends bit, I've been wondering how you're even friends with him and Harry anyway."

"I can't even say that I'm friends with Harry now. He basically ended that already."

"Mmhm yeah, I heard he's been acting like a total prick lately." She turned her head to face Hermione. "I'd imagine he's only being rude to you because of your association with Ron though. Maybe he just needs some space, plus he can't really be seen talking to Gryffindors until he establishes himself better in his new House. Anyway, I wasn't really planning on talking about Harry."

"You have a good point there... What were you planning on talking about?" Hermione asked as she laid down.

"Oh, my attraction to you mostly. Or something else if you'd prefer." Tonks said, watching Hermione's reaction carefully.

Hermione responded predictably by blushing again and sitting up. "Y-Your attraction? What do you mean by that?"

"Just as it sounds. I think you're pretty and smart and I like the smell of your magic. Everybody's is a little different, y'know. Some vibe better together than others, and ours practically sing."

"But... but you're a-"

"A metamorphmagus? Don't be so prejudiced." Tonks laughed teasingly. "I hear my genetics are actually quite valuable."

"You know that's not what I was going to say. So you're a lesbian?"

"Sometimes." Tonk's familiar grinning face quickly morphed into that of an attractive teenage boy. "I can be whatever you'd like me to be. I personally like it all."

Hermione jumped slightly in surprise, especially at the significantly deeper voice. "Can you change... everything like that? How does it even work? Are you capable of changing organs? Could that potentially mean you could heal yourself with-"

"Calm down, calm down. Damn you're adorable when you get exciting about something. I can change any exterior physical aspect of myself, but I can't really heal sick body parts or anything." Tonks said, scooting over until the two were nearly touching. She- or perhaps he rather, seductively ran a finger along Hermione's jaw. "But don't tell me you're not feeling it too. Don't you just feel all warm and fuzzy when you're next to me?"

Hermione knew exactly what feeling she was describing, she had been repressing it for days. "I don't know... I don't know what exactly I'm feeling. I just... isn't this a little odd? You're a powerful, older witch and now also apparently a Death Eater. I'm just a girl."

The shifting face slowly changed into one somewhat similar to Harry's, then to Ron's before settling on a more unique one with deep brown eyes and long blonde hair. "You're hardly just a girl... You have a lot more potential than you give yourself credit for. So let's try a little experiment, shall we? I will start by touching your hand and then slowly move. Stop me when it gets weird. Fair?"

Hermione couldn't deny the thrill that ran through her at the touch, which only increased as Tonks trailed his fingers up Hermione's arm to her shoulder. Brown eyes hesitated only briefly to meet Hermione's before looking down at the finger slowly trailing between Hermione's breasts. He stopped to playfully poke at her belly button through the thin fabric of her shirt.

"So... are we getting weird yet?" Tonks asked, very slowly moving his fingers down to play with Hermione's waistband. The delicious sensation of Tonk's aura seemed to be slowly creeping down , teasing the flesh of her lower stomach.

Hermione merely shook her head, giving Tonks all the permission needed to crawl on top of her. Tonks pinned her down and nuzzled into Hermione's neck. The faint brushing of eyelashes against Hermione's skin sent shivers down her back, any apprehension evaporating as soft lips tentatively pressed against her throat. The lips slowly worked their way up to Hermione's, lingering for just a moment before pulling back entirely.

"Is this alright? I know you're not very experienced yet. I don't want you to feel like you have to do anything." Tonks asked, brushing Hermione's hair from her face.

"No, no. It's ok. At least I think it is. I just don't understand this. Any of this. I don't even know who I am anymore. But it's like there's something inside telling me that this is what I should be doing... That this is my nature."

Tonks giggled. "It's your nature to make out with me?"

"Of course not. It seems like that's just an extra bonus." Hermione grinned. "Maybe Severus told you already, but I viewed my magical core last night. I understand that I somehow developed an affinity for Dark magic... I don't know how and I do intend to find that out someday, but I suppose my best option is to embrace who I am. It's still just a bit of a shock, you know?"

Tonks dipped down and tenderly kissed her. "Yeah, I know. But you have me and Severus on your side, and we're both kind of a big deal with the other Dark wizards.

"Really? Exactly how big?"

Tonk's features shifted back to their regular appearance, leaving the long blonde hair and boyish figure. "Ah... I wasn't really planning on telling you about this for a bit, so please don't freak out on me. We're both members of the Dark Lord's Inner Circle."

Hermione's eyes widened in shock as she regarded the woman on top of her in a new light. "He has an Inner Circle? What would it even take to get into that?"

"Well... In my case, my being a metamorphmagus certainly helped despite my age. I'm kind of a master at getting whatever information I need and causing all sorts of mischief and chaos for the Ministry and the Order. I'm also a pretty decent dueler. But yeah, the members are generally his eight most powerful Death Eaters. Severus and I are the heads of his Infiltration Task Force as well, or at least that's what I call the Death Eaters also associating with the Order and Hogwarts."

"Wait- there are other Death Eaters in the Order?"

Tonks smirked and tapped her on the nose. "Not yet."

* * *

The last few days of the winter holiday rushed by entirely too fast and Hermione once again found herself back at Hogwarts. Heeding Tonk's advice, she gave Harry plenty of space, only giving him a quick friendly smile the first time she saw him. She also had a rather brief conversation with Ron regarding their relationship and the direction they were heading, and surprisingly enough he was the one that suggested calling it off. Perhaps their conflicting magic was just as unappealing to him as it was to her. And so Hermione suddenly found herself mostly friendless at Hogwarts. The solitude suited her new interests just fine.

Her first private lesson with Severus took place their second day back. He instructed her to meet him in his private quarters shortly after dinner. She couldn't quite tell if the twisting feeling in her stomach was from anticipation or dread as she quietly slipped out of the Great Hall towards the dungeons. The door was slightly ajar as she approached. She hesitated before entering, knowing this marked a certain point of no return.

"Are you just going to stand out there all night?" Severus's dry voice called out from within.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione entered the small den. It seemed Severus had a small sitting room attached to his bedroom, which she was thankful for. The thought of receiving lessons in the room with his bed seemed somewhat strange to her. He seemed well prepared for their lesson, having set up a table with two chairs in the center of the room. There was a huge assortment of books laid out and little else.

"I have laid out a wide assortment of books regarding the different branches of Dark magic. By this time next week I expect you to grasp a basic knowledge of the unique aspects of Dark magic and select a specific branch for further study."

Hermione eyed the huge selection eagerly. This was the sort of thing she lived for- having access to a small but unique private library full of things she had never even heard of before. She felt overwhelmed by choices as she approached the table and scanned the many titles. She could easily determine the pile set aside for her to begin with but a few huge books on the other side of the table were what really caught her eye. It only made sense to start with the basics, but she was determined to read them quickly enough to move on to the more interesting looking ones.

It only took her a few nights to make it to the first tome on Blood Magic. The black leather bound book had been calling out to her since the first night, taking all of the restraint she had to resist skipping the initial books. The front cover was plain save for two large red ruins that translated roughly to _Lifeforce Arcana_. A quick shiver of excitement ran through her as she reverently flipped to the first page, running her hand over the buttery smooth paper lined with flawless handwritten script.

There was a brief introduction by the author- it read like a letter written specifically for somebody, and for the first time Hermione was actually tempted to skip the introduction to go straight for the actual information. She instead rushed through it quickly before reaching the table of contents. The chapters seemed to contain an odd combination of some sort of healing and power enhancing spells, along with many smaller specialty enchantments. It was almost as if Blood magic was the Dark side's answer to Healing magic- the catch being that all of the spells required either her own blood or that of another person's. It may not be the most practical subject for her to study... but maybe she could just limit herself to the spells requiring her own.

Hermione grinned as she eyed the stack of other Blood magic books. It seemed she had found a new obsession.

* * *

Hermione entered Severus's room one night in early spring, eager to resume her reading. She was already compiling a list of different spells she wanted to try- most of which requiring a small amount of blood from a living human. This rather large obstacle was quite frustrating, but she figured it would be a simple enough task to find volunteers someday. She opened the door to see none other than Tonks sitting beside the man, the usual table piled with books set to the side of the room.

Tonks jumped to her feet to greet Hermione with a hug, which Hermione happily returned. After they pulled back she studied the magenta haired woman. "What are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too! You really know how to make a lady feel wanted. Didn't Severus tell you? We're going on a field trip!"

Hermione's blank expression was all the response Tonks needed. "Oh Severus! Don't tell me you didn't fill her in yet? We have to go like right now!"

"I thought it would be unwise to tell her until it was time to depart, considering the rather sensitive nature of the subject." He drawled from an armchair in the back of the room, a pile of homework scrolls piled beside him on the floor.

Hermione frowned. "What exactly is going on?"

Tonks stepped forward to wrap her arms around Hermione. "I have been instructed to take you and a couple other promising youngsters on a bit of an expedition. They should be here soon."

"Other people? But nobody can know about me!"

Tonks shrugged. "I can glamor you if you want... but they're all other Dark wizards, so they're practically family. They won't tell on you or anything."

"I really don't feel comfortable with that. Where are we going anyway? I can't be out too late, I have class in the morning."

"You're adorable." Tonks laughed and ran her hands through Hermione's hair, which suddenly felt significantly lighter. "I'm taking the liberty of using a rather fancy trick on you. I'll be able to control your appearance just as I can mine for a little while. We just have to make physical contact every couple of minutes to maintain it. I hope that won't be a problem."

"I suppose not... Did you do it already? My hair feels odd."

"Mhmm, I just changed your hair and face around a bit. What's your middle name? We have to call you something different."

"Jean. That'll have to do, I suppose." Hermione said just as the door opened and three familiar faces stepped inside.

Draco Malfoy stared at the two women, who were still in a partial embrace. "Eh, who are these two Severus?"

Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson stood quietly behind him, suspiciously eying the two. Tonks broke away from Hermione and reached out to shake Draco's hand. "Nice to meetcha. I'm Nymphadora Tonks but I would greatly appreciate just being called Tonks."

Draco jerked back, a disgusted look on his face. "I know you. You're that mudblood metamorphmagus Auror... You're a member of the Order of the Phoenix."

"Yep and also part of our Lord's Inner Circle, so you'd probably be better off skipping the insults for now. I mean, I'm probably on the lowest rung of the ladder, but I'd like to imagine that I still outrank you regardless of my heritage." Tonks chirped casually.

Draco flushed angrily as Pansy sneered obnoxiously. "Inner Circle? Is that what I think it is?"

"Oh yes. Well, I can't really read your mind, but probably. Me and Severus are part of the Dark Lord's upper crust of sorts. We're his personal spies and more recently have been instructed to recruit promising up and coming Dark wizards, more specifically of the Hogwarts student variety."

"But she's not a Hogwarts student. We would recognize her if she was." Blaise said, gesturing towards Hermione.

"Jean here prefers a bit more privacy. I'm sure you have all been acquainted, though I'd imagine additional introductions will be in order eventually." Severus explained impatiently. "Now I have been instructed to monitor the development of all the Dark students and out of the impressive selection the Dark Lord has specifically chosen you four to form a task force of sorts."

Hermione froze in surprise. "Sorry, sir... That's not really something I'm all that interested in."

She seemed to not be the only one caught off guard by this announcement. Blaise in particular seemed incredibly uncomfortable. Severus took note immediately. "Unfortunately, this is not an invitation so much as a direct order. I understand any apprehension you may have but declining is entirely out of the question."

"Well I'm not interested. You can't _make_ me do anything." She replied stubbornly and folded her arms.

"Well no... I can't. But our Lord most certainly can. Besides, if you refuse do you really think I will still allow you to continue your studies with me? You must have known this was coming eventually."

Hermione was about to continue arguing when the thought of losing access to his books left her frozen in conflicted anxiety.

Tonks reached out and took her hand. "Try to think about it this way. You are a Dark witch. There is no changing that. You somehow lucked out enough to be alive during the beginning of the Dark Lord's conquest- Just think of what sort of opportunities being born into the winning side will grant you. If you are at all interested in furthering your knowledge of the Dark Arts you basically have to align yourself with our Lord. Soon enough all Dark wizards will be required to join him. We all must be united in this war if we want to succeed."

The woman's reasoning was undeniable. Entirely frustrating but true all the same. Just reading about Blood magic for the past few months left her itching for more- to go out and actually try it. She couldn't use Dark magic at Hogwarts, so perhaps if she agreed to cooperate with the Death Eaters she would have the opportunity to experiment a little. Besides, it wasn't like they would force the Dark Mark on Hogwarts students. She should have plenty of time to get what she wanted and figure out how to back out later.

"So are you all coming or not? We don't have all night to do this." Tonks asked, now sounding slightly annoyed.

Blaise shook his head slowly. "I'm not doing this. My family has always stayed out of any Wizarding conflict before. I don't see why this has to be any different."

"You really can't be serious, Blaise! He's probably going to end up joining at this rate anyway so don't let him hold you back." Draco snapped.

Tonks raised an eyebrow at this. "Ah, who are we talking about?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "I think Blaise has a bit of a crush on Harry Potter. They've been inseparable almost all year and now suddenly Blaise doesn't want to join the Death Eaters- something I know for a fact he was considering when rumors of the Dark Lord's return began."

"I see. I can understand your apprehension, but it may prove to be unnecessary. We have received reports from numerous people regarding this sudden show of Dark magic in Harry Potter. From what I understand the Dark Lord is already quite interested in this and has already begun planning to capture him. Apparently he needs something from the kid, and then he'll either kill him or initiate him. Maybe you can help push it one way or the other."

"He's really considering keeping Harry alive?" Blaise asked with a frown.

"Yeah, maybe. I can't really speak for him of course, but it's been mentioned once or twice. Now are you coming or not?"

"Do I really have a choice?"

Tonks smirked at the small group. "Nope, not really."

Blaise sighed. "I didn't think so. Alright, I'm in then."

Tonk's initial irritation vanished immediately. "Ok so if nobody else has any objections, let's get going. We apprehended some Light wizards that were wandering around in Knockturn Alley. I decided it would be fun to hold onto them for a bit and come get you guys for a bit of a... ah, pop quiz."

Draco laughed. "Wait, so they're still there?"

"Yeah they've been waiting for a few hours, stunned in a pile with a couple of guys keeping an eye on them. At least I hope they're in a pile. They might have been dragged into a shop or whatever." Tonks shrugged, rambling slightly as her body morphed before them. In just a few seconds she looked like an entirely different person- a tall, muscular man with dark hair and a scar across his left cheek. Her casual tone was suddenly jarringly odd in the more masculine voice. "I thought we could do a quick excursion, since you guys can't really practice Dark magic on Hogwarts grounds. I'm sure you're all itching to try some stuff out anyway."

Hermione glanced around the room to see the other three nodding with slightly shocked expressions. She wondered if they were all receiving private lessons like she was. Perhaps the Slytherins even had their own little club for all the Dark wizards. The thought made her think back to Harry- who still seemed entirely disinterested in speaking to her or any other Gryffindor. The thought of him being Dark made a strange amount of sense, but she couldn't help but wonder if he would have conceded to this situation just as easily.

Perhaps she would find out soon. They did say after all that plans were being put into motion in order to capture and possibly convert him. And given his behavior lately, Hermione wouldn't be all that surprised to see him give in.

* * *

Hermione gripped her wand tightly as she watched Draco attempt to cast a Killing curse at one of the men lying stunned on the floor. Blaise and Pansy stood beside her, watching with nearly embarrassed expressions. The ordeal was horrifying to watch- the captive man was obviously in pain from the underpowered _Avada Kedavras_, the last one giving him a monstrous nosebleed. And yet, Hermione couldn't help but watch in fascination as his weak spells gave off soft pulses of seductive power. It took the blonde four tries to successfully kill his target, but the number of failures did not seem to bother Tonks in the slightest. The two Death Eaters she had left behind as guards seemed incredibly bored.

The five of them had departed without Severus, who had first given Hermione a small bag containing a small dagger and three thin glass vials with cork stoppers. He didn't need to say anything as she departed- she knew it was time to finally try Blood magic.

She was undeniably excited. Merely reading about a subject was certainly informative, but obtaining so much information without being able to use it made her burn with curiosity. The first, and likely worst, part of Blood magic was the initial harvesting. Initial spells thankfully did not require large amounts, in fact the three vials Severus had given her were more than enough. Hopefully that meant she wouldn't have to kill anybody, though Tonks seemed pretty adamant on making sure they were all capable of casting a Killing curse.

"Don't you feel like it's a bit unfair to kill them when they're entirely helpless?" Blaise asked as he stepped forward with his wand in hand. "I'd really rather have a bit of a fight."

One of the Death Eaters shook his head. "Iffin you think you can manage it then go right ahead. Just don't make us go cleanin' up your mess when you can't finish the job."

Blaise smirked softly and eyed the captive men. Four still remained, all lying petrified on the floor with looks of pure rage and terror. He seemed to be measuring them against each other, taking the time to look each man over before selecting one. Using his wand to lift the man to his feet, he glanced back at Tonks.

"Mind if things get a bit messy?"

Tonks responded by ending the petrification on the man and tossing a discarded wand to him. "Uh, no. That's kind of the point. Now show me what you've got."

The captive man fumbled to catch the wand, cursing loudly as it fell to the ground. Blaise shrugged off his robes and slipped off his shoes he patiently waited for the man to regain his composure. Wearing just a tank top and slim-fitting pants, he flashed a quick grin at the man and beckoned him forward mockingly.

The man rose to the taunt, lurching forward and hurling a bright burst of light towards Blaise, who sidestepped the attack with ease before returning the attack. He shot a bolt of electricity towards the man and dodged again. The bolt hit the man directly in the shoulder, throwing him to the floor. His wand flew from his hand and skidded away across the floor.

Blaise tisked and stood over the man. "Don't tell me we're done already. We haven't even started."

The man tried to move and reach the wand lying just a few feet away but Blaise planted a foot firmly against his chest. "In all honesty, I don't really feel like fighting you anymore. That was incredibly disappointing. Maybe we should just end this now."

"I have a better idea!" Tonks called out and ended the petrification on the other captives before shoving the other wands into Pansy's hands. "Have at it kids."

Pansy shrieked as the three other captives stumbled towards her to reclaim their wands. Throwing them down in a panic, she pulled out her own wand and cast an _Avada Kedavra _towards the group. The green light barely made it a foot before fizzling out into the air. Blushing in embarrassment, she turned and fled from the room.

"You've got to be kidding me." Blaise rolled his eyes and blasted a bolt of electricity through the man's head before turning to face the others.

"Wait! Don't kill them all yet, I need to harvest blood from them while they're still alive." Hermione announced.

One of the men grabbed a wand and immediately aimed it at her. "You hear that? They have a Blood mage! We have to stop her before she hurts anybody else with her freaky magic!"

A cold sense of detachment came over Hermione, settling her mind and allowing her hands to act instinctively. She snapped her wand towards the armed captive and levitated him a few feet above the ground. The sudden jerk upwards wrenched his wand from his hand. Behind her, Blaise quickly dispatched the other two captives before they reached their wands.

She deftly reached into her pocked and withdrew the dagger and one of the glass vials, uncorking the vial and holding it with her teeth as her other hand maintained the levitation spell. Slowly lowering the man so his feet hovered just inches above the ground, she approached and unfastened the top buttons of his shirt. His terrified whimpers fell on deaf ears as she calmly sliced a straight line down his chest with the small ceremonial dagger. Returning the dagger to her pouch, she removed the vial from between her teeth and placed it beneath the wound. Whispering a short incantation, the man's blood rose to the surface of the wound and poured freely into the vial. It filled in seconds, so Hermione withdrew the other two vials and quickly filled them as well. Finally satisfied, she allowed the man to fall to the ground and held up the vials for examination. They were filled to the cork with bright crimson, fresh and brimming with the promise of powerful magic. Holding them in her hands caused a pleasant swimming sensation in her mind. She sighed deeply and turned to see Tonk's rather frightening guise standing right behind her.

"Finish him off, Draco." Tonks instructed shortly before taking Hermione's hand and pulling her away from the group. Large hands cupped Hermione's face possessively as Tonks leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Do you have any idea how fucking hot that was?"

Hermione pulled back to examine the huge scar on Tonk's face. "Maybe you can tell me about it later... preferably when you're not looking like that. I do need to hurry and get these vials in stasis before the blood goes stale though."

"Fair enough." Tonks laughed and turned to the group. She seemed pleased to note that Draco managed to successfully kill the man. "You guys did well. Those were some impressive dueling skills, Blaise."

The door opened and the two Death Eater guards entered with Pansy. The girl had her head ducked down in embarrassment. "Sorry everybody. They were just running for me and I didn't know what to do so I panicked."

"And we wouldn't expect any differently from you." Draco replied sarcastically.

Pansy sniffed angrily before looking down at the bloody man on the floor with widened eyes. The incision Hermione had given the man was still pooling blood out onto the floor, filling the room with a curiously pleasant aroma. Hermione wished she had brought along more vials.

* * *

Hermione rushed off to the table in the back of the room the moment they returned to Severus's chambers. Pushing the mountain of books aside to clear enough space, she carefully set the three vials on the table and cast a stasis field around them. It would serve to preserve their freshness for a few days, but she hoped to have time that same night.

Tonks had dropped her disguise the moment they returned, reverting to a rather androgynous form with her regular face and magenta hair. "I think we've covered enough for today. So yeah, you three can go."

"That's it? You pull us out of school and make us kill a couple of people just to send us off to bed?" Draco whined.

The woman was clearly not concerned with him, shooting glances towards Hermione to see what she was doing. "What more do you want? A cookie? Those were my instructions and now I'm going to go tell the Dark Lord what my opinion of you lot is. So sweet dreams, I'll be seeing you all soon."

"But what are you even going to tell him?" Pansy asked nervously.

Tonks looked up to level her gaze with the frightened girl. "I think you already have a pretty good idea. Now shoo."

Blaise shook his head humorously and quietly left the room, Draco and Pansy quickly following behind him. Tonks glanced around for Severus but it seemed the man had already retired for the night. Hermione was hunched over the table, not bothering to pull a chair over before pouring over a rather large book.

Tonks walked over quietly and looked over Hermione's shoulder. It looked like the girl had drawn a wide circle on a large piece of parchment in her own blood, the three vials placed to the side. She was currently tracing her fingertip on the paper, using her own blood as a rather macabre pen to form numerous symbols along the perimeter of the circle. She glanced over her shoulder when Tonks approached.

"Don't judge me on this, it's my first time. I'm worried that I actually have no idea what I'm doing." She said sheepishly before returning her attention to the runes.

"I'm sure you're just fine. What are you even doing?" Tonks asked as she wrapped her arms around Hermione from behind.

"I think I'm going to convert them into gems... I can lock an enchantment inside of them then and turn it into magical jewelry. Hopefully I'll be able to make three unique gems and then just transfigure some metal into settings for them." Hermione said, her words unsure but her voice confident.

"Ooh sounds ambitious." Tonks gripped her side and allowed the glamor on Hermione to release.

Long wavy hair fell in Hermione's face, which she flipped over her shoulder without a second thought. She finished writing out the runes after a few minutes and stepped back to admire her handiwork. "Alright. Just have to decide what sort of enchantments to put in them. Do you want one? I can customize something for you."

Tonks sighed and stepped back, realizing Hermione was far too focused on this project to pay much attention to more sexual matters. "Absolutely. What sort of things can you do?"

Hermione shrugged. "I could probably look up anything you'd like, as long as it isn't _too _advanced. Something to enhance your physical stamina maybe? Or a minor shield? I could even do water breathing if you think that'd be useful."

"Ok hold on, let me think on it..." Tonks trailed off, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Could you do something that prevents minor mind control? Dumbledore has a tendency to cast calming charms on people without permission. It's getting pretty old."

"Hm, that may be a bit tricky..." Hermione sounded delighted as she reached for one of the many huge books stacked around her.

"If you don't have any plans for the other two vials, might I suggest a gift for Severus and perhaps the Dark Lord?"

Hermione frowned as she looked up from her tome. "For Voldem- I mean, ah, I suppose I could. What would he even find useful? I'm sure he could easily obtain anything I'm capable of creating at this point."

"It would be more of a gesture of gratitude towards him than anything. It would earn you some real brownie points, that's for sure. Plus then you can show him for yourself what progress you've been making."

Hermione wasn't entirely excited about the concept of giving Lord Voldemort of all people a gift, but the idea was a good one. She had already reached the point of no return, so why not suck up to the man responsible for her new education? "You have a point. Alright, I'll make him and Severus some elemental resistance rings... Those can always come in handy. Anyway I think I figured out how to make yours. I'll be somewhat winging it with the ingredients, but it should work fine."

Hermione set the book aside and crossed the room to a cabinet where Severus kept a small stock of potion ingredients. She carefully loaded her arms with a small jar of rosemary oil, sprigs of basil and ground vacha and a large chunk of salt. Tonks watched earnestly as she prepared the ingredients, compressing them into a thick liquid substance and smearing it within the circle directly on the parchment. She then selected a vial and warmed it between her hands while murmuring a long string of strange words. Finally, she uncorked the vial and poured its contents out on top of the herbal salve.

Tonk's eyes widened in amazement as the substances fused together and solidified to form a red gem the size of her thumbnail. "Is it done already?"

"Almost, it has to set for a minute. I'm getting started on the other two now." Hermione mumbled distractedly as she scanned the page of a book with her finger. She shifted the towers of books around to accommodate the room for two more pieces of parchment and set to work on drawing out two more sets of runes.

Tonks pulled up a chair to watch as Hermione returned the previous ingredients and filled her arms with multiple new jars and pouches of herbs. The entire process took perhaps ten minutes, until Hermione sighed loudly and walked away from the table with something clenched in her hand.

"Alright, first off let's hope I transfigured the ring to the right size." She said and held out a small golden ring holding the red gem.

"Even if it doesn't I can always adjust my fingers accordingly." Tonks said with a grin and slipped the delicate jewelry on. "Shall we test it out?"

Hermione nodded and aimed her wand at the woman, casting a spell intended for calming down angry crowds or rambunctious children. "_Alcedonius_"

The spell sped towards Tonks and seemed to bounce off of an invisible barrier. Tonks cheered loudly and jumped around. "Well it seems I'm still full of energy! You did brilliantly- Lets just hope it works on enchanted candy too."

Hermione laughed and handed one of the other rings to Tonks. "Or you could try not eating Dumbledore's lemon drops."

"Yeah, like that's gonna happen." Tonks grinned and pocketed the second ring. "I'll be sure to pass this on to our Lord as soon as possible. Just a heads up, he's about to get a glowing report about you."

The door leading to Severus's bedchamber swung open, the man's head poking out of the room with a furious expression. "Would it be at all possible for you to keep it down out here?"

"Oh Hermione! Show Severus what you made him!" Tonks said, not at all phased by the hateful look she was receiving. "I have to run now. Thanks for the ring."

Severus watched irritably as Tonks kissed Hermione on the cheek and left without another word. Hermione seemed embarrassed by the show of affection in front of the man, quickly turning around to grab the last ring.

"Here, this is for you. It should let you resist weaker fire spells." She said sheepishly.

The ring seemed to be a slightly tight fit, but Severus managed to slide it on. He pulled out his wand and a small spurt of fire ignited from the tip, burning steadily as he pressed it against his palm. After a moment he nodded in approval and extinguished the flame.

"Very good. I must say I'm impressed, especially given the short amount of time it took you to make this. Did you create anything else?"

"Yes. A ring to prevent mild calming spells for Tonks and a cold resistance ring for the Dark Lord. Tonks said it would be a good idea to make him a small gift." She shrugged.

"Hm, I would imagine Tonks would need more calming spells than anything... Making something for our Lord was a very wise move though. But you should be going to sleep soon, it's quite late." Severus said as he turned to return to his bedchamber.

Hermione bid the man goodnight and cleaned up after herself before hurrying off to the Gryffindor common room.

* * *

The crowd of Death Eaters was slowly dispersing as the meeting came to an end, many opting to not stay for the end. Hermione looked up to see Lucius Malfoy walking towards her.

He nodded courteously to the two women before speaking. "Our Lord has specifically requested that you join him and his companions in the living room, Miss..."

"Jean, just Jean. May I ask what for?" She asked politely. She was quite sure Lucius already knew her actual identity, and was just looking for an appropriate name to refer to her by in public.

"I have merely been told to inform you than our Lord and his Enforcers have specifically requested to speak with you at your leisure."

Hermione glanced nervously at Tonks, who gripped her arm excitedly. "Finally! Now for the fun part of the night."

Hermione wasn't entirely sure what she was getting herself into, but she smiled softly and followed Lucius and Tonks out of the dungeon.


End file.
